


Conscience

by Gallantly



Category: Scream (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Hurt Audrey, Hurt/Comfort, Season 1 Spoilers, Season 2 spoilers, Worried Emma, Worried Noah, frendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-07-15 23:50:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 37,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7243819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gallantly/pseuds/Gallantly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Best friends, Audrey and Noah, get in a fight, one the ends with both of them feeling bad. But one of their situations gets much much worse when bad choices lead to horrifying consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Choices Catch Up To You

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written after Season 2 episode 3, so to read this you should watch up to that point. This is also my first Scream fanfic, so tell me what you think!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Scream, that'd be cool tho.
> 
> Please Review!

Emma unceremoniously shoved her phone back into her pocket as she strode down the hallway, a small smile plastered onto her face. Keiran was probably the most helpful with her return to Lakewood, even if he was more distant then he had been before. He was always texting to check up on her, even if he tried to be discreet about it, and she had to admit, it did help to have him by her side. She had been a little freaked after the incident at the barn, and he helped lead her through it, with the help of the rest of her friends.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar sound of a bell ringing, signaling the end of the school day. She internally groaned, she had been making her way to the nearest bathroom to her classroom, which happened to be quite far. This meant that she would have to go back and get her backpack before heading home, it wasn’t that big of a deal, but she really didn’t want to deal with the detour right now. Sighing, she pushed her way into the bathroom.

Emma used the bathroom as quickly as she could, eager to go home and take a nap, it had been an incredibly long day for her, due to the cramming she did the night before, in order to pass a test she hadn’t even known was coming until Brooke complained about it. She had been droopy eyed all day, and had even fell asleep in English, although, she was pretty sure that she had aced that psychology test. So, with a small smile of satisfaction she walked quickly down the hallway towards the class she had left her backpack in.

As Emma neared the classroom, she could hear two very angry voices, they were probably shouting, because she was a few hallways away and he could hear them faintly. The voices sounded… familiar. She quickened her pace, not quite running, but way past walking.

“-oah, you’re blowing this way out of proportion! That’s why!” When Emma came around the final corner that led to her classroom, she slowed, knowing it probably wasn’t the best thing to be eavesdropping, but she really couldn’t help herself, sneaking had become a second nature. Besides, she had been able to identify the voices now, and they almost never fought, this had to be serious.

“I’m not Audrey! If Piper had an accomplice, that would be the biggest scoop since unmasking Piper, I have a duty to my podcast fans!” Noah. That was Noah’s voice, she had never even heard the boy angry, to be honest, it was a little frightening to hear so much rage in his usually friendly voice. What did they mean accomplice? Wasn’t this over?

“Oh, your podcast! You’ve got to be kidding me, are you seriously more worried about that stupid podcast than your own goddamn safety?!” Audrey asked incredulously, her voice laced with anger. Emma had heard anger in her voice before, but never at Noah, never Noah, they were too close. She began to feel guilty for listening to their fight, but she had to know what they meant by ‘accomplice’.

Noah scoffed, “You’re supposed to be supportive of me Audrey! I don’t get why can’t you be supportive of me! Oh, nevermind I remember! It’s because you’re bat shit crazy!” He practically screamed that last sentence, and just as those words came out of his mouth, she could tell he had made a huge mistake. He didn’t though, if he hadn’t been so blinded by his anger, he could’ve of seen the flash of hurt in her eyes as he said that. It was quickly replaced by anger, and a desperate need to defend herself against his accusations.

“What do you mean crazy? I’m just trying to make you see sense!” Audrey was getting more and more desperate by the second, it showed in the shakiness of her voice, even if her tone was strong. An idiot could see how distraught and hurt Audrey was, Emma didn’t know what that said about Noah, who continued to berate the girl, which probably meant that he hadn’t noticed.

“I mean you’re insane, the video with Rachel for one thing!” Noah shouted this at her, gasping for air when he finished, this time the hurt was visible on her entire face, it was even obvious to Emma, who had moved closer and was peering through the crack in the door. As usual, Noah was oblvious, “You are so repulsive, that I really wish Piper had done more than just grazed your arm, maybe you’d actually be a little bit useful.”

Audrey stared at him for a moment, eyes welling up with tears, Noah obviously hadn’t realized what he had said, as he grabbed his laptop and charged out of the room, followed shortly by Audrey, but she headed in the complete opposite direction. Emma walked slowly into the now abandoned room, her head full of horrifying thoughts. Noah hadn’t meant it like that, she was sure, he would never want Audrey dead. They barely ever fought, they were closer than her and Audrey had ever been, even when they were still best friends. He had meant it differently, and didn’t understand how it sounded to anyone simply listening to him. Emma mentally debated who to talk to first, Audrey would need comforting, and reassurance that he hadn’t wanted her dead, and the only place to get reassurance was Noah. The choice was made for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Audrey tore the door to her car, chucking her bag into the passenger seat. She sat in her own seat, roughly pulling the door closed and crossing her arms in front of her. The car rumbled as she inserted the keys, and the radio began blasting a song she and Noah had been listening to before school. They almost always drove to school together, since they practically lived at each others houses. She slammed her hand into the radio, desperately searching for the pause button. A reminder of Noah was not what she needed right now. She had always viewed Noah as her closest friend, he was there when she lost Rachel, he was there when she was feeling down, he was always there. She didn't know what that meant for her and him at this point, but all friends had to fight. Right?

Audrey banged her head on steering wheel in front of her. It wasn't what Noah said that had bothered her the most, she knew he hadn't meant it, at least, she hoped he hadn’t. What really bothered was the fact that she thought he was right. She shouldn't have survived that, the only reason she did, was because she had helped Piper, because she had helped her kill people. She deserved to die there.

Audrey hit the gas, rolling quickly away from the school that Noah had left a bit from a bit ago. She needed to go somewhere, anywhere, she needed to think. The radio remained off as she drove farther and farther away from her home, from Noah's home. She watched the trees and abandoned road before her with vague interest, more focused on Noah's words. She knew it probably wasn't the safest thing to do, but no one ever took this road, so, as long as she remained semi-focused, she wouldn't hit anyone.

Audrey almost swerved off the road when her ringtone broke the comfortable silence in the car. She steered the car back in the right direction, and rejected the call without even looking at her phone, which she had mounted on its usual spot by her radio. She wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone right now, it was probably Emma, wanting to talk about her dad or something. An emotional talk was not something she wanted to deal with right now, nor did she want it to be. She groaned when the very persistent person decided to call again, apparently they didn't get the message. She pulled her eyes away from the road to look at the phone, prepared to mentally note who to tell off later. But when her eyes found where the name would've been, she found something that made her blood run cold, it read ‘Unknown Caller’. The only time anyone called her with an unknown number was either a prank call, or someone who knew too much.

“I don't like when you hang up on me, Killer.” The creepily edited voice grumbled through the phone. She always hated when they called her, whoever the hell ‘they’ were. They always had some sort of murderous agenda, and she always seemed to be in even more trouble when the day was through and everyday he would leave more and more ways to find out she helped Piper, and everyday Noah got a little bit closer to finding out it was her.

“What the hell do you want?! She shouted angrily into the phone, though she had to admit that part of the intensity in her voice was caused by fear that they had done something to her friends. They already proved they would, with what they did to Jake, and she was afraid they would do something to someone else, especially with what Noah and her had said to each other. She had stopped wondering if they were listening to what she was saying to people, she now just tried not to say anything he could use against her.

“Don't you worry your nasty little head, I'm not going after your friends this time.” Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that this still didn't help her cause much, but at least her friends were safe. “I'm more focused on you. You're not a very good partner you know, I outta teach you a lesson.” she was really wishing she hadn't sighed a moment before, because that comment made her breath hitch in her throat. “Stop the car and get out.” It wasn't a suggestion, it was a command, that didn't mean she planned on following it.

“No.” She stated simply, they didn't have any leverage, her friends were safe, she hoped. After her row with Noah, she couldn't be sure, and taking their word for it was a for sure way to get your friends killed.

“We've been through this, I'll post that nice little video of you and your little buddy Jake, right there in the comments for everyone to see.” Audrey wanted to punch whoever was on the other end of this call. She hung up the phone, completely sure she was going to get a call back. But, she needed to call Noah first, make sure he was okay. So she clicked quickly on his contact, trying to think of what to say to him, sorry, first, and then make sure he was okay. It rang twice before it ended, meaning he had rejected her call. She called him three more times, but he rejected them every time.

That's when they called back, she figured they knew what she had tried to do. They were probably very angry at this point, so she didn't waste any time in answering the call.

“You have 30 seconds to get out of the car, or this video goes up.” They said, and if the voice hadn't been altered, she thought that she would've heard a lot of venom in their voice. She slammed the car to a stop, jumping out with her bag and phone, stumbling slightly as she did. She surveyed her surroundings quickly, looking around for a sign of life. She had driven into a heavily wooded area, and it had gotten dark. She came here In an attempt to be alone, she really regretted that decision now. She looked down at her phone as they hung up on her, not good, not good at all.

A sharp whistle sounded behind her and she whipped around, which proved itself to be a mistake, when she felt a pain on the back of her head, knocking her down, but not knocking her out. She rolled over, pushing herself away from her attached as quickly as she could. As she turned she saw the mask that Piper had once worn, when she had murdered everyone one she cared about. They were clutching a two by four, that was covered in fresh blood, she assumed that was hers.They brought the wood back down, Audrey would've dodged, but her head was swirling, and she was seeing three murderers where one existed. The wood struck her head, and the world went black.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma hesitated as she arrived at Noah's bedroom door, his parents had let her in without question. She never really visited him at his house, only at work, but they knew her as a friend nonetheless. She took a deep breath, first, she would have to explain why she eavesdropped, or maybe she would have to calm him down. Although that is why she had given him some time to mellow over, but she couldn't be sure. So, with a wavering hand, she knocked on his white wooden door. Noah came in a few seconds, with a sour look on his face, though it dissolved when he saw Emma. Only to be replaced by a confused expression.

“Emma? What are you doing here? Will you do another interview?!” He asked her, his face lighting up, he always did this, tried to guilt her into more interviews. She simply shook her head ‘no’ and shoved her way into the room. Once she had reached the middle of the room, she turned on him, mouth open to say something, but the words weren't coming to her. She closed her mouth and cleared her throat, not taking her eyes off of his again confused expression.

“I heard you and Audrey arguing earlier.” She stated bluntly, cringing slightly when Noah’s face contorted in annoyance. He crossed his arms over his chest, sighing at her, before crossing his room and facing the murder board. Finding the comments about Audrey to be very captivating, he brought a hand up and wiped it down his face, trying to think if a response. Luckily, Emma was perfectly ready to get to the point. “Why… why would you say that to her? Why would you say that to anyone?!” Her voice raised as she defended her former best friend, she licked her lips when she finished trying to make sense of what he said.

“Me?! What did I do?” Noah whipped around, more confused and irritated than ever, honestly, he did believe he got out of hand, but he didn’t what he had done wrong. Emma shook her head, she would have to walk him through this, which is odd for Noah, he was usually pretty smart. “I just stopped her from trashing my podcast! I just told her that maybe she’d be more useful if she had done more that night! What’s the big problem!” That made Emma sit in shock for a moment, of course, he couldn’t have wished she was dead, but it certainly sounded like that. She was going to have to explain this to him, she hated to have and tell him he had told his best friend that he wished she was dead.

“Of course you meant it like that, Noah, that’s not how it sounded.” Emma kept from meeting his eyes, but also keeping her gaze away from the murder board, the last thing she needed was to have a meltdown while trying to help them. She bit her lip, wondering exactly how she should go about this without upsetting him.

“What do you mean? What else could it sound like?” he asked, there was no hint of annoyance in his voice anymore, just confusion and a little bit of worry. His eyebrows furrowed together, he looked a bit like a confused puppy. He uncrossed his arms, letting them swing idly by his side, he couldn’t see how it could be taken any differently, he had said that sometimes she was repulsive, which, wasn’t true anyway. Audrey could be annoying, and incredibly rude at times, but not repulsive, even now, she has been acting… off, but that didn’t make her repulsive.

“It uh,” she swallowed a lump that formed in her throat, and shook her head to clear it “sounded, like… like you wished that that night, Piper had killed her.” Emma supplied, finally looking up at Noah, who looked guilty, confused, and worried all at once. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Emma cut him off “‘I really wish that Piper had done more than graze your arm’ What else could you mean by that?”

Noah sat down in his chair, cupping his hand over his mouth, the other coming to cover his eyes, regret filling him like a balloon. It did sound like that, it was only because he was mad, he wouldn’t have said if he was in his right mind. He didn’t even understand that it sounded that way. He got up quickly, striding to the other side of his desk, and grabbing his phone, “I have to call her… apologize.” he muttered, more to himself than to Emma, who was watching him closely, wondering what he was going to do about the whole situation. He was desperately inputting the numbers to his password, and tapping into Audrey’s contact, putting it up to his ear and biting on his thumbnail. Now that his hands were away from his face, Emma could see the tears that had manifested themselves in Noah’s blue eyes.

Emma watched as he pulled the phone away from his ear, only to tap something on the screen and put it back up to his ear. He repeated this same sequence four times before he finally put it down on his desk, muttering “She’s not answering.” to her as an explanation. Emma reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, though she wasn't quite sure how.

“Hey.” she whispered, and Noah’s eyes flickered up to hers, just as a few tears escaped them and rolled down his cheeks. She had never seen so much guilt in the boy’s eyes, even when he had come begging for forgiveness after accidentally releasing her first time video. “You can apologize to her at school on Monday, okay?” Noah nodded, accepting the hug she offered, and sitting there in her embrace.

Noah wasn’t sure how long he sat there, sobbing in remorse, when the phone rang, a strategically taken picture of Audrey flashed onscreen. He lunged for the phone, tapping the answer button and bringing it quickly up to his ear. “Audrey, Audrey, I’m so so so sorry, I didn’t realize what I was saying, I didn’t mean like that, I could never wish you dead.” He was about to continue when a voice came from the phone, interrupting his rambling.

“Aww, well isn’t that cute, you wished the bitch dead.” The eerily familiar voice he knew all too well came through the phone, one he never hoped he have to hear again. He immediately looked at Emma who looked at him, confusion written on her face. Noah gulped, trying to find his voice so he could find out if Audrey was okay or not.

“Funny prank, where’s Audrey?” Noah asked, his voice wavering slightly from his crying, he met Emma’s eyes before looking back down and focusing on the voice over the phone . She had perked up at the worry that dripped from his sad voice.

“You’d better come and find her… I don’t think she will last that long in a room with me.”


	2. Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to chapter two! Thank you to everyone who left Kudos, and a double thank you to everyone who commented!. ALSO, I don't have a beta so if you see a spelling error please correct me.
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned scream there would be a lot more Audrey and Noah screen time
> 
> Please Review!

“Where’s Audrey? Is she okay? What did you do to her? What do you _want_ with her? Who even are you? Wait… are you Piper's accomplice?” Noah asked his most pressing questions before they could end the call on him. Panic was rising in him, he couldn't lose his best friend, especially with what he had told her. Emma looked just as panicked as he was, with a bit of confusion mixed in, not that he could blame her, she couldn't hear what this asshole was saying. Noah readjusted the phone to his ear, and looked at the comments on his murder board about Audrey, willing this nutjob to not hang up on him with giving him some clue as to where they were keeping Audrey.

“I'm not telling you where she is, you have to find her, a little treasure hunt of sorts.” Of course it would be one of these twisted games, whoever this was trying very hard to be Piper. The thing about Piper's games, was at they all had some sick twist to them, whether it just murdering Will afterwards, or making you choose between two people you really care about. Noah really didn’t want to find out, but at the same time, he wanted to know so he could find a way to prevent it. “But I feel you need a little incentive, since you did just wish death on her. Let’s see… how about, every day you don’t find her, I’ll stab her. In no particular place, in fact I will keep her suffering for a long, long time, but, you take too long, she dies.”

Noah gulped he really didn’t want to risk Audrey’s safety, but he had to know if this guy was actually just trying to make a fool out of him. “Give me proof, proof that you actually have Audrey, and if you do, give me proof  that she’s alive.” Noah heard some rustling from the other end, he hoped he hadn’t made the situation any worse for Audrey if he truly had her tied up somewhere. He could only hope that this was the same stupid pranksters that had attacked Audrey at the theater, that meant they were no harm, even if they did hate them.

“Is this ‘proof enough for you?” The killers voice came through his phone, followed by one of the most sickening sounds he had ever heard, a scream. Audrey’s scream, full of pain, but stifled slightly, as if she was trying to keep herself from making any noise. He had to smile slightly at that, god he missed her. Her scream quieted, only to be replaced by heavy breathing from her  and chuckling from Noah’s new least favorite person. Emma had obviously heard the scream through the phone, since she was looking at him with wide-eyes.

“Noah! Don’t. Come. Noah, he’s planning-” Audrey pleaded, only to be cut off by one of her own screams, he really didn’t want to imagine what was happening to her at this point. Regardless, he wasn’t going to heed her warning, he wasn’t just going to leave her in the clutched of some psychopathic Piper wannabe. The line went dead mid-scream,  Noah pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the ‘Call Disconnected’ screen. He slowly looked up at Emma, who was silently awaiting an answer with worried eyes, to which he took a deep breath, not wanting to scare her, but knowing she deserved an answer.

“Someone’s kidnapped Audrey, Emma, they might kill her.” He told her quietly, and it he found that voicing what happened made it feel that much more real. He sat down in his, immediately turning to his computer, planning on trying to track the phone call, he blinked back tears, vaguely aware of Emma frantically asking questions. He was going to find his best friend, he was going to save her, and make this right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Audrey woke up to a dull pounding in her head, though, it was to be expected since she got bludgeoned with a two by four. She attempted to sit up, only to discover that whoever had snatched her had bound her wrists and ankles. With a groan, she she used her elbow to push herself into a sitting position, bending her legs to keep herself upright. She blinked, trying to clear her vision well enough to get a good look at her surroundings. She was in a small room, lit only by a dimming shining light bulb hung by a long chain from the  ceiling. Upon closer examination she saw that was bound her was very thick rope that she had no hop of breaking with brute strength, she’d have to cut it. Audrey’s eyes searched the mostly emptied room, stopping only when she saw a silver medical cart, decorated with different types of knifes, a few saws, and a several syringes full of a mysterious liquid. There was also a metal door on the far, she didn’t doubt that it was locked, not that she could even get over there yet, any small movement caused her head to spin.

It was just then that she heard the click of  lock being undone, followed by the slow opening of the door. She flailed her bound legs, trying to push herself as far away from the door as she could, which only resulted in her pushing herself against the wall. She watched the door cautiously, containing a gasp when the man in the ghostface mask came striding in. Her eyes flickered to the cart for second, she could only hope that it went unnoticed. But it became clear, as the killer tilted his masked face, that luck was not on her side in this situation. Slowly, he turned his head towards the cart, reaching one arm to grab a skinning knife. Audrey’s eyes widened, noting that the knife they held was actually one of Jake’s knifes.

 _‘Bastard took souvenirs.’_ Noah had said it at the abandoned hospital, upon finding the small array of items that Piper had collected from her various victims. Apparently, whoever this new killer is, they _really_ wanted to copy Piper in any way possible, but this person was much more resourceful. She watched them approach, gaze flickering to his hands, one clutched the knife he had just grabbed, the other held something she hadn’t noticed before, a phone. She couldn’t hear anything from it, so she assumed it was so that she couldn’t hear their actual voice, unless they planned to kill her and they couldn’t care less if she heard their voice. But, she highly doubted it, why would they have gone through the trouble of kidnapping her when they could’ve just beaten her to death right there on the side of that road.

Audrey’s eyebrows furrowed together as they knelled down next to her, head still tilted, as if in contemplation, whilst she still struggled to get away, even though she knew it was futile. They pulled the phone up so that she could she screen, it only heightened her confusion when she saw that the screen was off. Only then did she see that the phone in front of her was actually her own, she recognized the small dent in the corner, and the few scratches on the sides. She jumped slightly as the screen light up, vibrating, the words ‘Noah Calling’ showing up on the screen, layering over a picture of Noah posing with a Ps4 controller in hand.

“Should we answer him? Hmm? I’m willing to bet we can bet we can bait him over here,using you, and kill him when he gets here. It’s perfect, what would make you suffer more than watching your best friend die?”  The voice that spoke came out as garbled as in her phone calls, _So are they wearing the voice changer then? It’s just an app, so that would take some computer knowledge_ She thought to herself, wanting to get as much information about this psychopath, in an attempt to reveal their identity.

They didn’t wait for an answer, and Audrey was incredibly grateful for that, because she wasn’t sure she could speak at this point. Noah’s call had rung out, so they tapped his contact, clicking the ‘Call’ button, she closed her eyes, willing for Noah not to answer. It had barely rung once when Noah’s voice cracked through the tense silence that surrounded her and her captor. “Audrey, Audrey I’m so so so sorry, I didn’t realize what I was saying, I could never wish you dead.” She wasn’t even paying much attention to what he was saying, she knew he hadn’t meant it like that, then again she wasn’t sure _how_ he meant it, but she still felt like someone was gripping her heart and squeezing. He had sounded so sad, he had been crying, she knew he had, she had heard that voice enough times to know. They were best friends, and with the murders and the general troubles of life, they had to cry sometimes, and the best place to go was your best friend.

If this psychopath didn’t kill her, the emotional trauma just might,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day One 3:36pm After School

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noah had almost not gone to school that day, he couldn’t, not with Audrey still missing, he hadn’t slept at all the night before, he couldn’t, he hadn’t stopped searching for her, even whilst at school, he _couldn’t_. It had been a day, which meant that she now had at least two stab wounds,  those two that happened during that godforsaken phone call, and she was going to get another if he wasn’t quick about this. He had no idea what this killer had planned, Audrey certainly didn’t want him there, but he wasn’t going to leave her, not now, not ever. Emma had sat with him in Audrey’s usual seat beside him during most classes, he wasn’t sure if it was because she wanted to watch his progress, or because she didn’t want him to feel alone.

Emma had taken him to the coffee shop after school, and honestly, he felt incredibly bad, he knew she was freaked, and she suffered from PTSD, so she must’ve been losing it with her living hell being back. But he was too worried about Audrey to care what was happening around him.

Emma placed a warm cup of coffee beside him as he typed away desperately trying to track the phone call, Noah was sure that was what the killer had intended for him to do, but he was prepared to play any game he needed to, anything to get her safe. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, slowly coaxing him into a hug, holding his head to her chest, due to the fact the he was sitting and she was just bending over from where she was standing. He sat there for a few moments, silent tears being soaked up by Emma’s shirt, and by the periodic shaking in her chest, she was crying too, whether it was over the fact that this murderer was back, or the fact that they had taken Audrey.\

Noah was the one to pull away, wanting to get back to work as quickly as he could, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm, both from exhaustion and the tears welling in his eyes, Emma wiped her eyes and nose on her long blue sleeve, before patting him on the back, and brushing out the wrinkles on her apron. The lack of sleep must've shown on his face, because Emma muttered "I'll keep you caffeinated" in his ear before heading towards the counter, He reached towards the cup that Emma had placed in front of him, taking a small sip, he never really liked coffee, but he was going to need the caffeine.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day One 8:25PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brooke stared down at the screen of her phone, seeing the texts she had just sent to her missing boyfriend, he would barely ever respond anymore, and when he did he was being very distant. She sighed resting her chin on her hands, she was sitting in school after hours _again_ for this godforsaken Lady of the Lake assembly rehearsal. Her dad had made her do it, and now she was stuck with Stavo, who had decided to stop by to watch their all their rehearsals, she didn’t doubt that he was amused by all of them.

She turned her head towards him, catching his eye from where she was sitting in the audience, she immediately tensed up, he, on the other hand, just smirked and resumed whatever it was that he was drawing. Scoffing, she turned back to the seat beside her, as Zoe sat down, a bright smile on her face that caused Brooke’s mouth to twitch slightly as well, her smile was extremely contagious, especially when it was so genuine. Honestly, She had to laugh quietly at how giddy she was, she looked as if she was about to jump out of her seat, with excitement and general happiness.

“What’s the big occasion?” Brooke asked, a soft chuckle in her voice, although, Zoe didn’t seem to notice though, as she just giggled a little as she watched the teacher direct different girls to their various spots, and adjust their posture. She was taking them up in two different groups, so it wouldn’t be that hectic, and luckily, Zoe and her had been put in the same group. Well, it wasn’t really about luck, Brooke had just followed Zoe when she and been separated, so that she could have at least one familiar person with her.  

“Oh you know, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and...” Zoe turned to her,  leaning close and waving her closer, Brooke obliged, leaning her ear in next to her. “Noah just asked me out! Were going to a movie tonight at 12:00!” She whispered, cupping her and around her mouth. Brooke gasped, pulling away and clapping a hand over her now open mouth. Honestly she was mostly surprised because Noah had seemed very off that day, he was anxious, and he had bags under his eyes, as if he hadn’t sleep the night before. He had had his laptop out in almost every class, not really caring if anyone caught him using it, although no one bothered him much that day, except for Emma, who had been with him practically all day. Brooke had just assumed that maybe they had a project in another class, and that  why he was so anxious, but he could’ve been planning to ask Zoe out and just chickened out and did it over the phone.

“That’s really late? Does Noah have any ulterior motives?” She asked suggestively, nudging her gently with her elbow and winking, Zoe just laughed, shaking her head at Brooke’s silliness. Zoe leaned back in her chair, letting her braids fall over the back of it, and sighing happily.

“It’s a midnight release.” She explained, she really wasn’t even sure she wanted to go to first base with him tonight, she just wanted to get to know him better. She had admired him for such a long time, he was always so smart and so funny, and just generally nice, she never thought that he’d have a chance with him, it was always just a daydream. But, Brooke never saw it as that. Zoe was all for making things happen, but she never really knew how to do it, things she tried were sometimes frowned upon, or she was just flat out made fun of. “I’m gonna go get ready now, I still need to take a shower, re-do my makeup, pick my outfit and probably take up nap, since it’s a two and a half hour movie. Cover for me?” She peered down at her watch, seeing about 8:30, god they’d been for four hours, and their teacher, Mrs. Anrickson, showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. Brooke nodded, laughing as Zoe quickly picked up her bag, waiting until Mrs. Anrickson had her back turned turned before fleeing the scene.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day One 11:26

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noah had gone home when they closed, once he had gotten into a rhythm there, he hadn’t really wanted to move, in fact he had even made some progress, he had finally gotten through one of the many firewalls that the new killer had put up to challenge him. He imagined that the atmosphere in the coffee shop was what helped him the most, it was quiet, but alive, and the coffee that Emma had basically refilled for free all night. Noah was so buzzed by the time that he got home that he was completely ready to have another night without sleep, but he knew that he’d probably had to sleep the entire next day to make up for it. Nonetheless, he stayed up not even watching as time ticked on the clock, he was so entranced with what he was doing, that he hadn’t noticed that his phone had rung. He only noticed when he found that the coffee he had smuggled out of the shop was empty, since his phone was sitting right next to the Coffee. He checked his call logs, hoping that it wasn’t an unknown number that had called him, sighing in relief when he saw that it was just Zoe, although she was being quite persistent.

“Zoe?” He asked as he answered when she called yet again, irritation clear in his voice, obviously something was on her mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. She was interrupting him, and Audrey couldn’t afford that, she was in too much danger, and Zoe had no reason to be calling, especially at this hour.

“Oh sorry? Did I interrupt something?” She asked sweetly, something like cheer in her voice, Noah was squinting at nothing feeling his coffee buzz burning off slightly. “I was just wondering if we should meet by the fountain in the outlet before heading to the theater.” Wait, what? Noah shook his head, was this her way of asking him out? It was very aggressive to just _say_ that they were going out, and not even asking if he was against it. He babbled incoherently, which was a lot of ‘wha’ ‘uh’ and ‘wait’s, it must’ve formed something that sounded like agreement, because She responded happily.

“Okay, great! See you then!” She said excitedly, ending the phone call with a _beep_ before Noah even had a chance to say anything. So he just pulled his phone away from his ear and stared at it, confusion clear on his face, that was, before a very familiar pair of words flashed upon with screen ‘Unknown Caller’ this had to be their doing. He wasted to no time, he slide the answer button and brought the phone back up to his ear.

“Will you go to a movie with me? There’s a new midnight release tonight, out at the Redlin outlet mall.” It was Noah, well not _Noah_ , but the editing made it sound like someone calling just had bad reception, even he would’ve fallen for it, if it wasn’t his voice. “Just like that, you’ve got a date at Midnight tonight.” The voice returned to normal for that sentence, well, as normal as it would get. Noah stared at the ground in confusion, listening more than looking, how exactly this helped the killer, he wasn’t sure, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

“But…there’s another date across town” Oh there it was, the infamous ‘but’, he wasn’t going to get off free, though, inviting a girl on a date didn’t exactly seem that menacing, even if he was going to have to bail on both of them.  “Now, this other date, you go alone, and if you solve the puzzle, you get a clue as to where Audrey is.” Noah bolted up right, immediately fully awake and ready to go wherever it was that he had to go. He knew that there had to be some sort of catch, he could tell Zoe that he was to tired that night or something, it wasn’t hard to deal with.

“You’re going to choose, Noah, go to the puzzle and maybe find a tiny little clue to find Audrey with, but if you choose that, we’ll raise the rate to one stab, every 12 hours, or you could go to the date with Zoe, and the rate will stay the same. Don’t try and pull one over on me either, If you try to just stay in and keep searching, I’ll raise the rate anyway.” Noah’s face had slowly gotten more and more angered throughout his entire explantion.

“So, Zoe, or Audrey, you choose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be a lot more action later on, more Audrey time, and more badass Audrey in general. Just a bit more setup for the story, with some important parts of the story in it.
> 
> Please Review! Tell me which option you think Noah should choose!


	3. Night One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took so much longer than the other because I spent so long deciding what Noah should choose. Also, thank everyone for the nice comments, I mean to reply to them but I never have the time, you guys really are the MVP's, and if you left Kudos you are awesome!
> 
> As always, Please Review!
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned Scream, there would so many holes in my ships.

“Audrey, or Zoe?”

Noah had no idea what to choose, he wasn’t just going to sit here, he either had to go with Zoe to some movie with no repercussions, or he could get a clue to where this son of a bitch was keeping her, with possibly life-threatening repercussions. Noah opened his mouth to try and reason with this murderer, even though he knew it was a waste of time, but before he could, the line disconnected and left him to his thoughts. They were clearly just going to watch and see what Noah did, which was a little weird, the thought of our every move being watched. Noah shuddered slightly, pulling the phone away from his ear slowly and placing it gently down on his desk. He turned toward this murder board, which had been left untouched ever since his fight with Audrey, he was nowhere close to finding out how to guy was, or where Audrey was, he’d probably put this event on the board when it was all over. That is, if Audrey actually survived her endeavour, and while he didn’t even want to think about it, he knew that it was _very_ possible. When Riley died, he didn’t think things were ever going to be okay, he had spent hours upon hours crying, sometime Audrey was there, sometimes he was alone. He never wanted to lose someone like that again, especially Audrey, with how destroyed his heart was after he had ,  at that sheriff’s station the night RIley was murdered, he really didn’t want to imagine what it would be like to try and rescue Audrey, only to find out she was dead. She was the person he cared about most in this world, and he refused to just let her die there.

What was the best option to prevent that? If he got a clue as to where Audrey was, he could find her much faster, but, it would highly increase the risk of her dying. On the other hand, if he went with Zoe, he would just be wasting a night in which he could be looking for her, and possibly more nights if the Killer wanted to torment him. He groaned, covering his face with his hands, he was conflicted, he didn’t want Audrey to suffer more than she had to, well, he didn’t want her to suffer at all, but he didn’t really have a say in that. If he went with Zoe, the killer would most likely taunt Audrey with the information that he choose Zoe, without telling her the real reason he went with her. If Audrey thought that he had abandoned her, she might stop trying to leave, which he was _sure_ that was, that was just who she was, a fighter. He sighed, dropping his hands from his face and letting his arms swing idly by his sides, Noah was beginning to wonder if this is what they had wanted when they set up this whole dating fiasco, if they wanted Noah upset and conflicted.

His phone vibrated, pulling his head from his thoughts, he peered down at the now light screen, wondering if it was this infamous psychopath, but no, it was just Zoe, texting him to tell him that she was heading out. He stared at his phone for a moment, realizing that he had to act, or Audrey would have to suffer without him getting a single clue. He licked his lips once in contemplation, checking his watch to see the time, it was 11:45, the mall was nearby he could get there in under five minutes, but he had no idea where they other one was located, though he imagined they would tell him when they found out what he choose. He looked wistfully at a picture of him and Audrey sitting together on bench at comicon, both smiling brightly, he grabbed  his phone, typing in his passcode quickly, and going straight into his contacts. His finger hovered over the phone hesitantly, should he call her? He really didn’t want to scare her, but she was the only person who could really help with his whole dilemma, plus, she was incredibly smart, so her opinion would be valuable. With one last sigh of frustration, he tapped Emma’s contact, and pressed the ‘Call’ button, hoping she was still up, knowing how Emma sometimes liked to go to sleep earlier if she wanted to do something in the morning that she didn’t have time for the day before. It rang once, twice, three times, before Emma finally picked up the phone, but that small amount of time caused Noah to start panicking, he didn’t know if it was from the lack of sleep, or from the general stress of having to choose between two horrible options.

“Noah? What’s wrong?! Is Audrey okay?!” Emma asked before he could even say anything, fear filling her voice, as she gripped her own phone tightly. She had plenty of reason to be worried, she really wanted to help him, and she had, Noah was surprised by how strong she was, he had been freaking out since the second he had gotten that first phone call. He was realizing how much of an asshole he had been, he wasn’t the one that suffered from PTSD, yet he had sat crying in her arms for so damn long. She was probably losing it on the inside at this point, there was a new Killer, and they had taken her former best friend, and was now torturing her. If there was a way to make Noah feel even worse during this whole situation, he was pretty sure he had found it.

“Emma, Emma, calm down, I need you to be calm about this.” He stated quietly, trying to keep his voice from wavering to much and just hoping that she would assume that it was just the phone cracking, not his voice. Noah took deep breath, trying to compose himself enough that he could explain their problem without stuttering excessively. She was breathing heavily, obviously trying to wrap her head around his words, although he could imagine that she was scared at this point, and he was as well, but he knew what was happening, she didn’t.

“The uh, the person that took Audrey, they called again.” He paused for moment, upon hearing her gasp, wondering whether it was a good idea to continue or not, he didn’t want to trigger anything, but he really needed help, and he didn’t know who else to go to. So, he took a deep breath, trying to push all of his doubts, and pressed on. “Well, he had an idea for this sick game, one where I have to choose, and I don’t know what to do.”

Noah explained everything quickly, knowing that if he was going to make a decision he would have to do so soon, or it would be made for him. Emma stayed quiet throughout his whole story, aside from slight rustling from her side whenever she nodded, Noah didn’t think that was a good sign, normal Emma would have questions. He didn’t want to be the reason Emma went back to treatment, he didn’t want her to go back to treatment at all, and he really hoped she didn’t either. Once he finished, they sat in silence for a few moments, Emma was trying to process all the information he dumped on her, and Noah was Impatiently tapping his foot on the ground, waiting for an answer and feeling very anxious.

“I… I think I know what you should do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Audrey’s wrists and ankles were raw, the red blistered skin was clearly visible around the ropes that bound her, it made it very obvious that she had tried to pull her herself out of them, which made her want to hide them whenever they came in. She wasn’t going to give them the pleasure of knowing that she was failing at all her escape attempts, she had also tried to reach the cart, which they left in there, probably give her some false hope. They had set it up to be the perfect living hell for her, and it had barely been a day. Honestly, she had no idea how the hell she was going to last here, before either bleeding out, or just going insane, and she knew that must’ve been their goal. She had gotten herself multiple injuries than they had told Noah she was going it get, although, that was her fault, she really shouldn’t have sassed someone who could kill her then and there.

She had one stab wound on either leg, both of which she had gotten from that phone call with Noah, the one on her right leg was shallow, it was the original one, so it was more of just getting her to scream than actually hurting her. The other, was much deeper and wider, that one was meant to hurt, a lot, they had twisted the blade, leaving a gaping hole in leg with blood oozing out of it. On her left clavicle, she had a raw, burned skin shaped in the face of the Brandon James mask, constantly reminding her of when they had branded her with his homemade iron rod. She had managed to rip the fabric of her shirt so that It wasn’t always rubbing against her skin, and her jacket hung of of her elbows. Finally, she had a five point star carved into her left hand that she got for one particularly snarky comment, the skin was pulled up and apart in places from when she had accidentally rubbed it against something. Taunting this person was not the best move, but she had no other tactic, she had tried numerous times to find someway to get out, all she had managed to do was make them tighten her already painful bounds. But, whoever this was knew what they were doing, they were trying to break her, mentally and physically, so that when Noah found her, if she wasn’t already dead, he would only find a shell of the person she used to be. Unfortunately for them, Audrey was not the kind of person to be broken easily, although he had known what actually worked against breaking her, guilt. They could stab her, carve her, brand her, it only made her more pissed at them, which gave her even more drive to escape. The guilt on the other hand, tore her apart, she blamed herself for everyone’s deaths, they were beginning to make her believe that she deserved this, that Noah shouldn’t save her, that if he tried, he would only be helping a monster.

She hadn’t slept, and she didn’t plan on it if she could help it, putting her guard down in front of this person seemed like a death wish to her, she would sometimes zone out while they was in the room, and ended up a knife to her neck accompanied by a threat to her life or her friends life. She didn’t want to imagine what would happen if they came inside to mock and she had been asleep, they’d probably wake her up with some sort of new found way to injure her. But, eventually she would have to sleep, the longest anyone ever lasted without sleep was 11 days, and she had a sickening feeling that she would be here much, much longer. She did have faith in Noah, but if this killer dropped the bomb that she had been the one to bring Piper to Lakewood, she was pretty sure Noah would just leave her stranded here. If she was being completely honest, she wasn’t sure he should come get her anyway, she was the reason everyone was dead, Riley, Will, Tyler, Nina, Sheriff Hudson, Jake, she was the reason that Brooke, Emma, and Maggie had been attacked.

She wasn’t sure she would ever forgive herself, and she didn’t think Noah would, or should, either.

The door creaked open, she kept herself from looking up at them as they entered, choosing to only watch with her eyes, she tried to tell herself it was because she didn’t want to show weakness, but she knew in the back of her mind that it was exhaustion. It had been a little under 72 hours since she had slept, since Noah and her had decided to have a horror movie marathon just for the hell of it. Even then, the only way that they stayed up was by taking periodic shots of 5 hour energy, mixed with a little of red-bull, they had always taken their marathons very seriously, god, she missed him, and it hadn’t even been that long. It had only been around a day and a half, although it felt like it had been weeks, _Well, time is relative_ Noah would say,in his know-it-all voice, she laughed aloud at that, not really caring about how crazy that must’ve sounded to her captor.

She knew that they were always watching her, she had noticed it a few hours into her time in this room, up in the corner of the room was a camera, the same type of camera that was in the storage unit. She recognized it, Rachel went on and on about it, she had talked about how it  would’ve been perfect for her stop motion videos, and Audrey  had been planning to get it for her for her next birthday. She had been saving up her money for months to get her that camera, doing small jobs around her neighborhood, mowing lawns, babysitting sitting kids, and cleaning some intense messes teens made after parties that they need picked up fast before their parents could see. She had made enough money that she was even going to buy her a necklace that she had once pointed out at Kay’s, her birthday had only been two weeks away, and now she was never going past 17. She found herself staring into the camera more often than not, mind drifting somewhere else, somewhere with Rachel, or Noah, somewhere happy.

Ah, there it was again, she familiar feeling of a knife to neck, she had zoned out again, she slowly turned her head towards theirs, a wild look on her face. This must’ve been a very amusing look, because a small chuckle escaped her mouth as she stared daggers into his masked face, he did his signature head tilt as her face contorted in rage. She had an idea, she knew it was stupid, but he was laughing at her, and the lack of sleep was making her a bit hysterical. So, without much though, she pulled her head back quickly, only to swing it back forwards and strike his face with her forehead. She should’ve known better, headbutting someone was incredibly impractical, it hurt both people, and, to make matters worse, she had a head injury, so her vision swam as the killer right their-self. She watched as three overlapping versions of the one killer charged to the cart, ripped a dull butchers knife off and twirled back to face her, brandishing it threateningly. Even in her state, she could see what was about to happen, she tried to push herself away, only managing to get her legs tangled in the rope that bound her to the wall.

“You’re really gonna regret that one, killer.” Their words were incredibly cliché, they sounded as if they were ripped from some poorly done horror movie, which they probably were, but they were threatening nonetheless, especially since they was swing the the knife around menacingly. They walked cheerily over to her, a small skip in their step, like he knew something she didn’t that had incredibly giddy, and that just made her more panicked, she desperately tried to untangle her legs, which proved to be difficult task with her hands stuck together. By the time she had finally gotten herself undone, they were crouching next her, whilst she braced herself against the wall again. They reached out, grabbing her roughly, which she struggled against but her head was still whirling, meaning she had no chance. He pushed up the sleeve of her black leather jacket, and positioning the knife two inches below her elbow on the bottom of her arm, pressing down enough that, if the knife hadn’t been so dull, it would’ve drawn blood. “Oops, must’ve must’ve forgotten to sharpen it.” They taunted, and began sawing back and forth on her arm, slowly and painfully sawing through the the soft skin, as blood began to pool around the edge of the knife. She couldn’t help it, as she watched this maniac

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zoe readjusted her skirt for a the umpteenth time in the last five minutes, Noah was late, which was very rude in her book, especially since he had been the one to propose the date in the first place. The fountain behind her trickled as it ran, this was where they said they’d meet, even if Noah had sounded a little flabbergasted, but she just assumed that he was nervous. She looked back down at her watch, 11:47, if he didn’t get here soon, they wouldn’t have time to get snacks and be in time for the movie. To be honest, she wasn’t actually interested in seeing this movie, she just wanted to go on a date with Noah, he could’ve chosen just about anything for a date and she would’ve accepted.

Brooke was almost excited as she was, hell, she had to put her phone on mute with all the texts she had been sending her, demanding to know all of the details of what was going on, even though she had been repeatedly told that Noah had failed to show up on time. Figuring she had nothing better to do, she pulled out her phone, seeing that she had an alarming total of 23 missed text from Brooke, and she had muted it around three minutes ago. Sighing, she sat down on the ledge of the fountain, clicking on her messages and reading through the sea of ‘Is he there yet’s, ‘Stop ignoring me’s, and ‘Zoe what’s going on’s.

She chuckled softly, typing ‘Still no sign of him, I’ll text you when he gets here.’ and pressing send, to which she immediately got three small  dots hopping around in her corner for a moment before they were replaced by Brooke’s response. ‘I’m gonna make him regret that! He asked you out!’ Zoe smiled slightly at that, but didn’t respond, putting her phone in her pocket, and stared out at the road, waiting for Noah’s car to pull up, or at this point, _hoping_ his car would pull up. She looked down at her feet, and began to twiddle her thumbs, not sure what else to do with her time, she stared at her dark blue flats, she chose them because they were comfortable yet pretty, they seemed perfect for seeing a movie.

Headlights light up the ground in front of her, making her look back, using one hand to block the blinding from the car that was parked in the spot she had been facing. The rider must’ve realized that they were shining their headlights directly into her yes, because the lights quickly shut off, but whoever it was continued to adjust their car in the parking spot. They kept backing up and driving right back in, it was about the fourth time that they did this when they finally felt content with how they parked, as they shut off their loud engine and began shuffling around in the car. Zoe blinked for a few moments, trying to readjust her eyes to the dim moonlight that enshrouded her, as she stood up and walked hesitantly towards the car. She thought it was Noah, but you could never be sure, and she really didn’t want to get taken advantage of on the night of her date with her grade school crush.

The side car door was pushed open, but whoever came out was ducked when they did, so it was still impossible to know it was, but at this point, Zoe had stopped doubting that it was Noah, showing up exceptionally late for their date, but still in time for the movie. Zoe smiled as he came out from behind the car door, looking very tired, but he had a smile stuck on his nonetheless, and if Zoe wasn’t so infatuated with him at that point, she would’ve noticed that his smile was forced. She peered down at her watch, 11:51, which meant they had to buy their snacks quickly, luckily it was late, so their wouldn’t be much of a line. A smile crept on her face as Noah jogged over to her, panting out apologies and excuses, which she brushed off with a giggle and genuine smile. Noah sighed slightly with relief, and stuck out his arm towards her, elbow still bent.

“Sorry I’m late, got a little held up.” He said, which sounded remarkably loud in the silent air around them.  Zoe didn't mind though, the silence had become a little eerie throughout her wait. “Shall we?”

Zoe flashed him a toothy grin, too far gone to notice how blotchy Noah's sad eyes looked cup close.

“We shall.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Audrey wanted to sleep, she really wanted to sleep, she really _needed_ to sleep, but she couldn’t, not with the constant threat of death or torture. She had dozed for  moment before, unable to keep her droopy eyes open for any longer, and it had ended with her getting a brand new slash above her  left eyebrow that bleed, a lot, it obscured her vision in one eye most of the time. Was either bleeding so much that is she opened her eye, it would be bombarded with the sticky red blood, and when it finally clotted and dried, she had to pry her eye open with her hands, which aggravated the cut enough for it to start bleeding again. But, she kept trying all the same, which caused her more pain than it was worth. She needed to see, she new that, if she had such a big blind spot, they would use it to their advantage.

She finally managed to not block her vision with blood on her umpteenth try, it still bleed, but she put her jacket sleeve on the cut to keep it from bleeding onto her eye, which was caked with a thick layer of dried blood. Her eye felt heavy, both from sleep deprivation and the blood, so even though she was able to open her eye now, she took her time, not quite sure that she could open it just yet. Although, she knew if she left herself with one eye out, she wouldn’t be able to look at the cart on her left.

Slowly, she lifted her eyelid, only to shut it in less than a second, cringing at the bright light, that wasn’t actually that bright in reality, but she hadn’t actually been able to open her eye for what felt like an hour.  Sighing, she opened it her eye, slower than before, and resisted the urge to shut it  as soon as she saw a sliver of light, but when she did open her eye, what she had her reeling back and slamming her head painfully into the wall. The in the corner of her eye, invisible to her if she only had her right eye open, was the Killer, sitting with their masked head slightly tilted, she hadn’t seen him come in, probably because she hardly ever had enough energy to pay attention to anything around her. She cried out in pain as she struck the wall, managing to hit the bump that was now forming on the back of her head. Her hands shot to her head, wincing at the pain that radiated around in her now pounding head.

“So, you’re little B-F-F, choose Zoe, the girl he barely knows, - compared to you that is, - over you.” The killer garbled out, watching as she turned her head slowly, keeping hands staying glued to her head, and letting her unkempt hair drape over her blood-covered eye. They had told her all about the little game they had Noah play, picking her or Zoe, which was an obvious copy of what Piper had done, and it really stung that Noah choose to see a movie with Zoe when it was her, Audrey, getting tortured by this lunatic. _There has to be a reason for this,_ She thought _But what angle are they playing? Do they just really wanna be as good as Piper at being a serial killer?_ She scoffed at that no one should want to be like that, even she had come to her senses eventually. “Why don’t we make him a little gif to enjoy while he watches his midnight premiere?” They asked rhetorically, pulling phone from behind their back, and turning to look at the silver cart that only had a new addition.

"What the hell?” She asked, pure horror and shock in her voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what is this weapon? Give me your guesses! 
> 
> And if you notice any spelling errors, or times when I refer to the killer as a 'he' instead of a 'they' (I keep doing that oops), please tell me, I really need a beta.
> 
> Please Review!


	4. Medieval

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I have no excuase other than the fact that I've been binging The Killing. Thank you to everyone who commented recently, even asking me when keeps my mind on it, so I don't forget. Also, thanks to everyone who left Kudos, y'all are great!
> 
> Disclaimer: I dont own Scream, if I did, Naudrey who be canon.

Audrey tried to level her breathing, she knew exactly what that was, due to a school project in history class where she had to research medieval forms of torture. Sitting in front of her on that wretched silver cart, was one of the forms of torture that she deemed most brutal. It was sometimes used as punishment as well, but when it was a punishment, it was done more publicly. The cart in front of her hold a black flogger, modified to be much more painful, it had a small handle, with a long braid on it, and between every notch in the braid, they had shoved a large piece of broken glass, designed to tear through skin. Floggings and whippings are essentially the same, except for the fact that floggings are meant to harm you much more than a whipping was, which, she was guessing the killer knew. 

“Oh, good, I was hoping you would know what this was.” Their distorted voice said as they crept their hands toward handle, scooping it up and twirling it expertly in their hand.  _ Oh great  _ Audrey thought  _ they’re good at this too, as if my situation couldn’t any worse _ . A loud crack pulled her roughly out of her thoughts, the killer must’ve noticed her mind drift, and had struck the ground beside her, She whipped her head up in surprise, and found herself face-to-face with the killer, and a cold blade on her neck. She lifted her chin, staring daggers into black holes of the mask, where she knew their eyes would be, and gritting her teeth, bracing herself for whatever they were going to do. But, instead of hurting her, they brought the knife down and cut off the ropes that bound her legs, and ever so slowly, they cut through the rope around her wrists, laughing  maniacally when they saw how damaged her wrists were from when she tried to escape. “Alright killer, you’re going to cooperate without question, and you won’t get hurt, well... more than you’re supposed to.” They warned, adding another dark laugh, Audrey, on the other hand, had to suppress a smirk, she wasn’t going to sit and obey, that just wasn’t her. The killer gestured to move on the all to her left, which had a hook drilled into the roof, with a thick rope lying coiled on the ground, she started to comply, painfully pushed herself off the ground onto wobbly legs. Her body felt much heavier than before, and when she felt the stinging pain of the stab wounds in either leg, but she pretended to be struggling much more than she was.

Then she lunged, she shoved the killer onto the ground with as much strength as her injured body could muster, which apparently, was quite a lot, or maybe she just took him by surprise, she wasn’t sure which, but they went down, slamming roughly into the cart. The weapons on the table clattered onto the floor as the killer attempted to use it to stop their fall, but ended up knocking it down as well. She didn’t wait for them, she ran towards the door, crouching down along the way and snatching a medical scalpel from the cart onto the ground. It wasn’t the best weapon, but it was the closest to her, and she didn’t want to waste anytime, she needed to use all the time that the killer sat on the ground, dazed, to find some way to escape. She almost slammed into the door when she reached it, since the room was very small, she had no time to slow down, but that didn’t stop her from jiggling the doorknob. The door proved itself to be locked, and honestly, she wasn’t surprised, so she started ramming her uninjured shoulder into the door, but she didn’t have enough strength to knock it down, not that that stopped her. 

The killer was trying to get upright, but they had hit their head on the cold ground, and the whole world was spinning. They knew that Audrey wouldn’t be able to escape anyway, they had taken precautionary measures against that, normally, they felt no need to lock the door behind them when they came in. They moved slowly, but eventually they go to their feet, and trudged towards Audrey, who was beginning to look very desperate and pained, didn’t notice as they crept up behind her and grabbed her calf, yanking roughly and pulled her down. Her head slammed roughly into the wall, as the killer drug her closer to them, and her turned her do that she was face up. She quickly pulled herself together and kneed him hard in the crotch before shuffling away from him and pushing herself upright and ducking as the killer retaliated by swiping the knife across what would’ve been her face if she hadn’t moved. The killer was angry now, and Audrey knew that if she did anything else she would’ve screwed herself completely, but she had to try, so, she tightened her grip on the scalpel in her right hand, and stabbed the killer in the leg, since she was already ducked down. She was going to rip it out and use it as a weapon, but she was putting a lot of strain on all of her injuries, so she didn’t have much strength left, plus blood still coated her hands, so it slipped out of her grasp when the killer stumbled back. They didn’t give Audrey a chance to react, they kicked her directly in the face, sending her head flying backwards and her legs to slip out from under her, then, they ripped the scalpel out of their calf and tossing it aside. 

Audrey turned herself onto her stomach using her arms to push herself back to her feet, but when she was about about halfway up, the killer stabbed her in the leg, with almost half of the blade in her leg. She cried out in pain and her legs gave out, causing her to slip and face plant on the ground, and the knife that the killer was holding in a deadly gripped tore a deep, giant gash into her leg. Blood immediately soaked her black jeans as it poured out of the wound, they hadn’t torn an artery luckily, she supposed it was because this killer knew what they were doing, even if it was psychotic.

The killer grabbed a fistful of her hair, and dragged her across the room to the to where had originally ordered her to go. She struggled only the trying to use her less injured leg to create some friction on the ground, while her hand frantically tried to get the killer to release her, she dug her nails into his wrist and peeled up the skin. This only pissed off the killer more than they already were, which didn’t help her case at all. They threw her roughly against the wall, leaving her hair sticking up in places, due to the fact that the killer’s hand was covered in a thick layer of blood.

“All you had to do was be a good little killer, all you had to do was listen, and you wouldn’t have gotten that nasty cut on your leg.” They spat, while Audrey just glared at him still feeling defiant despite that fact that she had lost their little battle. They strode over to her, knife in hand, and cut the the sleeves of her thick leather jacket apart, and cut the back of down the middle, manhandling her all the while, not caring when they accidentally cut her too. Afterwards, the tossed the piece of the ruined garment into the far corner of the room, leaving Audrey in her thin, white, sleeveless shirt. 

“Lots of people have died from floggings, I wonder if you'll survive?.” They asked rhetorically, grabbing the whip from where they dropped in on the floor on earlier, and striking her hand, which was laying limp, palm up on the floor beside her. 

She let out a cry of pain and shock, she cradled her hand in her, lap, turning staring transfixed at all the damage it had done to her hand. The was a large red welt on her hand, that was sliced open in one place from the jagged glass, and the pain was unbearable, it was stinging, burning, and throbbing. She lifted her head to look up at the killer, who was, watching her with a  their head tilted to the side, and the coiled up rope in their hand, she what was going to happen, and she knew they were right, this was gonna be one of the worst experiences of her life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noah shifted in his seat, anxious for the movie to be over, so that he could back to his search for Audrey. He had left his phone on, since this was the killer game after all, and they would probably send something like ‘Zoe and the virgin. Don’t worry, I’ll CUT Audrey out of the picture.’ or something else to make him feel like shit for choosing to go see the movie with Zoe. Even though he knew that it would mean less suffering for Audrey in the long run, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly guilty about giving up two and a half hours of time he could be using to search for her, or, more likely, catch up on some much needed sleep so he wasn’t running on 5 hour energy’s. He keep trying to go sleep in the theater, but, he didn’t want to be rude to Zoe, who didn’t know about the whole fiasco in the first place, and he didn’t want to pull her deeper into this than she already was. He turned his head slightly to look at her, she had grappled on to his arm, and had her head resting on shoulder, with her long braids tickling his arm. She seemed to be enjoying the movie, since her eyes hadn’t left the screen even when she went for a drink or popcorn, she would just feel around for the drink or the bucket, which was fine for the drink, but since the popcorn was sat on his lap, it led to her putting her hand on some awkward places.

The movie was mildly interesting to him, but the characters were written poorly, and the acting was incredibly robotic. Plus, he found his eyelids sliding shut few seconds, making it hard to even remotely enjoy the movie. Though, he guessed that was what the killer wanted, they didn’t want Noah to actually have fun with Zoe, they wanted Noah to be constantly dwelling on the fact that Audrey could be suffering at this very minute, and he was having some recreational time. At least Zoe was enjoying herself, she was practically radiating happiness, and it was comforting to have her head resting gently against his shoulder.

Noah’s phone vibrated, not audibly, since he had left it in his back pocket and he muffled it, but he felt it, and he went completely stiff, he was praying that it was just Emma asking him if he was out of the movie or not. Some part of him knew that that wasn’t the case, some part of him knew that if he looked at his phone, it wasn’t going to be something that he wanted to see. But, if this sicko was doing something to his best friend, he wanted to know, so that when they did find out who this was, they could kill them himself. Noah started to move his free hand so that he could retrieve his phone, but he hesitated, he was scared, scared to see his best friend hurt, scared to see the person he cared about most in the world, in pain. Noah took a deep, yet shaky breath as he pulled his phone out quickly so that he couldn’t doubt himself again.

Once he got peek at what was sent to him, he almost wished that he had hesitated, the killer had sent him a picture and a video, followed by a text. The picture would’ve been enough, but obviously this killer was wanted him to feel like shit. The picture was a long shot of Audrey’s back, she was wearing her white sleeveless shirt, and her hands were bound together, and pulled hung taunt from the ceiling. Her head was limp, against her chest,  he could tell, even though he couldn’t see that side of her, and her knees were splayed on the ground, she was obviously passed out. The most alarming part of the photo was her back, her white shirt was drenched in blood, and sticking to her, so in the really ripped places, he could see inside the shirt. The sight made him want to vomit, her back was covered in countless, jagged cut, and red welts that were painful to look at, he gulped, and look back down at the video, he couldn’t watch it hear, it probably had audio, otherwise he would have sent it as a gif. Sure enough, the text below it read ‘WATCH THIS ALONE AND REGRET YOUR DECISION’, lovely, he would have to sit here for the remaining half hour of this movie just imagining what could be on that video, that could’ve caused the damage in the picture. 

Luckily, Zoe didn’t seemed disturbed by all the jostling around it took to take out his phone, evident by the the fact that Zoe still had her head resting on his shoulder, and even had a small  smile on her face. Noah refocused his eyes on the screen, seeing a girl with long green blue hair stumble out of burning barn with another girl, who looked a bit more bewildered. The girl was in a knee-high white dress and high-heels, but her attire was covered in dried blood, which, in his opinion looked quite real, scary real, actually. But, it was just a movie, and blood could easily be faked, he guessed that he was just being paranoid, the whole situation with Audrey was putting him on edge, and for good reason. This movie wasn’t exactly the most relaxing thing to watch, in fact it just helped remind him that the most important person to him was suffering, and while the blood he was seeing was fake, the blood she was seeing was  _ very  _ real, and it was hers. The girl on-screen actually heavily reminded him of Audrey, she was tough, funny, adventurous, and a little bit of a geek.  The girl was also in a relationship with someone named ‘Rachel’ at the beginning, but Rachel was the first kill, so it didn’t last and  _ that  _ was an obvious reference to Audrey, This obviously on purpose, he was supposed to make that connection, it was part of his sick game.

He felt his phone buzz in his pocket again, why would the killer text him again? Hadn’t this son of a bitch done enough?  He wasn’t going to even let himself hope that it was just Emma this time, it only made seeing a text from ‘Unknown’ instead, much more scary and heart-wrenching. Noah needed to know what they wanted, so he pulled out his phone back out, seeing that it was, in fact, a text from the killer. He hastily opened the phone and went to his messages, desperate for any explain of that horrid picture he was sent.

But, all that was there were another two text messages and a gif, and neither of them were pleasant. The message was in all caps, as usual, He supposed it was to make it more menacing, which it did, in Noah’s opinion. He let his skate over the first text, trying not to let their words affect him, it read ‘WANT A LITTLE SNEAK PEEK, VIRGIN?’. Below it sat the gif, which made him an to break down and cry, in front this entire theater, and nobody would even know why. The gif was of the killer, next a passed out Audrey, held upright by the rope that tied her arms to the ceiling. The gif was of the killer grabbing Audrey’s limp face roughly from underneath, and shaking her around. But it was Audrey’s face that hurt him the most, her hair was sticking up in places held up by dried blood, and there was a large amount of blood covering one eye, that came from a deep slash above her eyebrow. There were very obvious tear tracks, that glinted as the gif moved, multiple tracks came from both eyes, meaning she had cried, a lot. Noah gulped, feeling a stray tear drip from his own eye, he wiped it quickly, not that it mattered, apparently, the green-haired girl had just gotten killed, and it was all very emotional. Noah looked down at the next text, since he couldn’t bear to look at the gif any longer, he read ‘BI-CURIOUS AND I ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN. DO YOU THINK SHE MISSES YOU?’

Noah threw his phone on the chair next to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DAY TWO 3:24 AM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma surged upwards out of her bed, breathing heavily, she had another nightmare, but not of one of the usual. Normally, it was someone she cared about being killed right in front of her, but this time, it was Audrey, lying on her back on the floor of some unrecognizable place, in a pool of her own blood, and calling out for help. She called for Emma, she called for Noah, she called for anyone, and eventually, she could barely squeak out the word ‘help’ anymore. Everything about it was in such vivid detail that it was almost scary, she was even wearing the clothes from the day she went missing, although, they were covered in dark red blood now. 

 

She was drenching in a cold sweat, but that was normal, well, normal for her at least. The sheets weren’t exactly helping her, in fact that felt like they were radiating heat, so, she threw them off of her, and turned so that her legs were hanging off the edge of her bed. She placed her elbows on her knees, and buried her head in hands. She was frustrated, she wanted to help Noah, but she was a mess herself. She couldn’t tell anyone, the killer had made that very clear, they had texted her ‘NO COPS. NO FRIENDS. ANYONE ELSE WHO GETS INVOLVED DIES. SCARED, EMMA?’. She hadn’t replied, that was what they wanted, and she didn’t want to give them any satisfaction. Obviously she was scared, she was terrified, and she couldn’t tell anyone, because she didn’t want to lose anyone.

The one person she did call however, was Howard, Audrey’s father, turns out he was visiting Audrey’s mom in Boston, and Audrey couldn’t come since she was struggling in one of her classes. Apparently, they hadn’t been in contact because Audrey was pissed when she found out she couldn’t go with him to see her mom. She planned to tell Noah when she got the chance, it made it much more obvious as to why the killer choose now to kidnap her. She was also starting to wonder if Jake had also been kidnapped, his parents were in mexico, and he had been MIA ever since her welcome home party. Sure he was still texting Brooke, but that could’ve been anyone with his phone. Noah should probably know that theory too, they had to work together on this, or Audrey was a dead girl walking.

Emma picked her head up, feeling sticky and just generally, she knew it was really early, or really late, depending on how you looked at it, but she needed to take a shower. There was no chance that she was going to be able to go back to sleep tonight anyway, the image of Audrey bleeding was still engraved into her brain. She pushed herself off the edge of her bed, heading slowly towards her bedroom door that exited into the hallway. Her eyes hadn’t fully adjusted to the darkness of the room, so she just felt around until her hand landed on the cool doorknob, she started to open it, but she froze, there was something wrapped around it. Upon further investigation, she saw that it was a rope, a red rope, and not naturally, it was dripping with blood. She looked down, seeing a black piece of fabric absorbing the blood that dripped from the rope, and a folded up note, that had little bit of blood on it. She crouched down, unfolding that the note, which had ‘AUDREY HAS A LOT OF SECRETS, AND ONCE KNOW, YOU’LL LEAVE HER HERE TO ROT.’ written on it in big black letters, the ink was smeared from the blood, but it was still eligible. 

She was frozen, staring at the black cloth, it was Audrey’s jacket, well a part of it. It was half of the front, and half of one of the sleeves. Part of Emma wanted to throw up, the other part of here wanted to know exactly what this guy meant by ‘Secrets’ and how they were so confident that Emma would leave Audrey to die. Sure, they weren’t as close as they once were, but they were best friends, nothing could make her want Audrey to suffer. She had a lot of things to tell Noah, when they finally got a chance to talk again, which was going to be a while. Noah was catching up on lost sleep, he had texted her when he got home from the movie, telling her all about what the killer had texted him. He was supposed to send her everything that the killer sent him, but he only managed to send the first picture, so she assumed that he fell asleep. Not that it mattered, since the picture told her everything she needed to know.

No one could get involved, meaning, she couldn’t let her mom see this sickening display of megalomania, or she would know, and she would die. She hastily pulled the rope off of the handle and threw it in the trashcan, planning on moving it out of there later, she just need to put it somewhere where it couldn’t drip blood on everything, knowing she easily get rid of the trashbag. She grabbed the jacket off the floor, and pushed herself upright, pushing away the guilty feeling that crowded her head when used a dry part of it to clean the blood from the doorknob. Afterwards, she threw the note and the jacket in the trash with the rope, noting that all three objects were quite flammable, and could easily be disposed of that way. She’d have to be careful about where she does it though, no one could know what was happening.

She pulled her bedroom door open with her elbows, trying to keep her now bloody hands from touching the newly cleaned doorknob. She used her foot to move the door open the rest of the way, and walked slowly out into the hallway, luckily,  the room right across the hall to hers a bathroom, so it was exactly a trek. The hallway was dark, and eerily quiet, it scared her, and even though she knew it was probably just paranoia, she turned her head and searched the hallways for anyone anyway. She didn’t really know if it was possible to be paranoid anymore, the killer was back, they were all in constant danger, and they all had to be on high alert, especially everyone who didn’t know what was going on, they were more likely to be targets. She knew that she was going to have to make sure that nobody was suspicious of the fact that Audrey was missing, so that no one got dragged into this psycho’s deadly game.

Emma shook her head, trying, and failing, to clear it, and pushed her way into the bathroom, using her foot again to push open the already cracked open door. She flicked the light switch her elbow, doing the same with the same with the sink faucet. She slide her bloody hands under the faucet watching as the blood and water mixed to create a dark pinkish liquid, that flowed gracefully off her hand, and down through the drain in the sink. On the outside, she may have Seemed calm, but I was taking all her willpower not to crumble to the floor and cry. She was trying to keep herself composed, if she broke down now, she wouldn't be able to handle actually having to save Audrey, inevitably. And, if this killer was trying to get to her,  the best thing you do was to suck it up and pretend that it wasn't slowly destroying her mentally. She tried to not imagine the killer sneaking into her room and leaving those things on her door, and she tried not to imagine what else the killer had done in her room while she was sound asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DAY TWO 1:37PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Brooke walked briskly through the open door of Ms. Lang's classroom, she was running late because she had slept through her alarm again. That's the last she  _ ever _ tried to go through all of her shoes in one day, she hadn't gotten to sleep until almost five in the morning. She did find a lot of shoes that she didn't wear anymore, either because she didn't like them anymore, or were just  _ way  _ to small for her. It didn't seem like Ms. Lang's was here yet, so maybe she lucked out, quickly, she rushed to her seat retrieving an amused from Gustavo. She just shot him dirty and turned to Zoe, who was looking at the board, but her eyes kept flickering in her direction. At first, Brooke was confused about how Zoe was acting, and she was going to ask if she was drunk, but she remembered the date that Noah and her and gone on. Suddenly, her eyes light up, and she started to get out of her seat so that she could interrogate Zoe, since she had been trying to set them up for a while, when Ms. Lang came striding in. Her timing was really poor.

“Alright class, does everyone have their book reports ready for me today?” Ms. Lang asked, signalling everyone to start reaching into their bags and searching for the paper. It also signaled a few ‘Oh shits’ from the back of the class, from people who had completely forgotten about the assignment. Brooke had finished hers quickly, thanks to her Zoe, who was more than happy to help her with the book report. She pulled her paper out and placed it gently on the desk, knowing this was probably her best work in this class, and not wanting to mess it up in anyway. Ms. Lang began to walk around, collecting the papers off of everybody’s desks, and quietly scolding everyone who gave her some bullshit excuse. When she reached Brooke, she grabbed the paper, put instead of putting it otop the stack that was building on her left forearm, she skimmed her eyes over it first, before breaking into a smile and adding it to the building stack. Brooke shot a grateful look at Zoe, who responded with a smile and a thumbs up. “Oh, is Noah out sick today? I thought it was quiet.” Ms. Lang said to herself, but it was loud enough for the class to hear, and sure enough, Noah’s usual seat was unoccupied.

“He’s catching up on some lost sleep, uh, Audrey told me.” Emma said immediately, trying to take out two birds with one stone, and take suspicion away from the both of them, unbeknown to the rest of the class. Ms. Lang just nodded, but Zoe turned around and gave her a strange look, and Brooke couldn’t blame her, why would Noah go to Audrey after going on a date? Brooke made a mental note to kick his ass later, and teach him that he should  _ not  _ go to his  _ female _ best friend after a date. Especially since it was obvious that Zoe viewed Audrey as a bit of a threat, and for good reason, since she had a sense that there was some unrecognized feelings between the two of them. She hadn’t told Zoe this, knowing that she could be wrong, and she didn’t feel the need to sabotage a potential friendship between them. 

‘I’m sure it’s fine.’ She mouthed to a very irritated and confused Zoe, who was in need of some reassurance, but she wasn’t sure that she was all that convincing. It’s hard to be convincing of something when you weren’t even fully convinced of it either, and she was guessing that Zoe saw that, she was one of the smartest girls in their school. Although, when it came to boys, and relationships, Brooke’s knowledge was obviously superior. Maybe that’s why Brooke’s uncertainty frightened Zoe so much.  

“Everyone!” Ms. Lang called bringing the class’ attention back to herself, since everyone had decided to start talking again as she collected the papers. “Today, we’re going to be focusing on more cognitive psychology, can anyone tell me what they already know on the subject?” Brooke was bored already, but Zoe seemed excited as she shot her hand in the air, barely giving Ms. Lang a chance to finish asking her question. She would always get into a zone when she was in psychology, and Brooke always assumed that it was just her trying to impress Noah, but even now, in his absence, she was in that same zone, maybe it just had to do with a love for psychology. This love for the subject was not shared between the two girls, in fact Brooke  _ hated  _ everything about it. The whole analyzing people kind of creeped her out, and it was for the same reason that she had refused the therapist that her father offered her after Piper’s killing spree.

Brooke just stared off into space during the lesson, she never got called on anyway, so it didn’t really matter, and Zoe could always tutor her after school. The lessons always made a lot more sense when Zoe explained it anyway, sometimes she even wished that Zoe was the one teaching the class. She could see Zoe as a teacher, because, yes, she loved to learn, but what she loved more than learning was teaching people things, helping  _ others _ learn. Her daydreaming was interrupted by a strange feeling that put her on edge, she felt someone watching her, and in Lakewood, when you thought someone was watching you, you didn’t just ignore it. She teared her eyes away from the blank part of the wall she had been staring so intently, and scanned the classroom. Everyone seemed to be either listening to the lesson, or staring off into space, as Brooke was just doing, well, everyone, with the exception of one angsty artist.

  
Stavo. His gaze shifted to his screen of his tablet, which was propped up and facing away from her, she narrowed her eyes at him, giving him the the dirtiest look she could, but he refused to notice until he looked up from his tablet again. When he did, he slowly sat up straight, setting his stylus down on the table, and returning her glare with one of his signature ones. She held his gaze for a moment, before furrowing her brows together, and turning back to face the front of the class. Not that she was going to admit it out loud, but his gaze was incredibly unnerving. What did he draw on that tablet it anyway? He was always on it, and she’d never seen a single one of his drawings, which struck her as odd, since all the artists she had known had flaunted their work. Something was up with him, and she wanted to know what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's no big cliffhanger this time, (unless you count that fact that no one's seen the video yet) but next time, things are gonna be pretty dangerous, for a lot of characters.
> 
> Please review!


	5. The Video

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated! YAY! And, I actually got a chance to respond to some comments! A big thanks to every one who left Kudos, and a HUGE thanks to everyone who commented.
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned Scream, season 3 would already be announced.

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DAY TWO 5:16 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noah had practically passed out on the drive back to his house the night before, and he couldn’t describe the bliss that he felt when he finally laid down on his bed, and closed his eyes. He was out the second his head hit the pillow, he didn’t even pull the covers up, or get changed out of his clothes. His brain was foggy, he had stayed up longer than this before, but he had always had caffeine, and lots of five hour energies, plus a very alive, safe, and unharmed Audrey. They had done a lot of horror movies marathons, and sometimes, well, they got a bit out of hand, and they ended up staying up over 96 hours, which was definitely not healthy. That’s what his last thoughts were of, Audrey, laughing, throwing popcorn at the tv when a character did something incredibly stupid. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Unfortunately, that was certainly not how he felt when he woke up. His head was pounding, and he imagined that was what awoke him the first place, since he still craved to shut his tired eyes and curl up under the covers. Begrudgingly, he threw his legs off the bed, running an idle hand through his hair, which was sticking up in awkward places from sleep. But, for a minute, he was in a state of ignorant bliss, he had completely forgotten what was going on, and woke up with thoughts of nothing but school and his headache. It made remembering what happened ten times worse though, so he didn’t know what he truly preferred, because for a moment, everything felt fine. Then he remembered it, the video.

He scrambled to find his phone, which had gotten buried in his blankets while he was sleeping, and apparently, he flailed, since his nicely made bed, was now destroyed. The phone was bundled in his comforter, and he only found it because he had torn it off the bed and unraveled it by waving it around. His phone it the floor with a solid thump, and bounced off his hard wood floor, landing face-up, and being luckily unscathed. He fell to his knees, and fumbled, grabbing the phone with shaky hands, and sliding his finger across it to unlock it. His hands were shaking violently now, and he didn’t know how to stop it, he knew it was from the fear of what could be on that video, but If he knew this killer, it would most likely have some clue as to where she was. That video was the only way he could see Audrey, and know anything about what state Audrey was in, and how long she would last. But, when he got to the messages, the video that he knew was going to help him, or haunt him, or maybe both, was gone. He frantically scrolled up and down the conversation, but it was just gone, he even restarted his phone, hoping that it was glitch that could be fixed in that manner.

‘MISSING SOMETHING?’ He didn’t know when it showed up, he had just be scrolling up and down through the conversation, when he saw that aBUt no new message on the bottom of the screen. And as terrifying as that was, at least he knew what happened, at least he knew that whatever this was, it was on purpose. But why would he delete it from his phone? Didn’t that ruin his whole torturing agenda? Noah shook his pounding head, this psychopathic asshole wasn’t think sense, so there was no use in try to make sense of his actions, he’d only worsen his headache. The bright screen of his phone wasn’t helping either, so he shut it off, not wanting to look at the messages anymore either. He slumped against the side of his bed, and let his arm slide limply by his side, he imagined Audrey sitting next to him, making a funny sarcastic remark, one that seemed kind of extremely insensitive to anyone but Noah. 

But, the reality was, Audrey wasn’t there, Audrey was in trouble and there he was, wallowing in his self pity. He had to get back to finding Audrey’s phone before something else happens to her, he needed to find her, even though he had no idea if she was even alive anymore. She certainly didn’t look good in that gif, so he was starting to wonder if he would just kill her before he was even close to finding her, and taunt him about how he failed. He felt the phone that he held loosely in his vibrate, Speak of the devil Noah thought Quite literally actually. But no, It wasn’t the killer, it was Brooke.

‘hey, eli’s throwing some weird surprise party for kierans birthday, you in?’ Her grammar was poor, but that was nothing unusual, so he didn’t suspect any foul play from the killer. Nonetheless, he couldn’t accept, he had wasted enough time, and Audrey had paid for it, so he lazily typed ‘Can’t. Busy. But tell Kieran I said happy brithday’ but just as he was about to click ‘send’, he got another text from the killer. Simply by looking in his notifications, he could see that it said ‘I WOULDN’T SEND THAT IF I WERE YOU’ Noah, suddenly awake and alert clicked into his text messages with the killer, just as another threatening text popped up onscreen. ‘IF YOU DON’T GO TO THAT PARTY I’LL CUT OFF ONE OF AUDREYS EARS’

Noah couldn’t swallow the lump that formed in his throat, and he knew better than to take anything he said lightly. Great he thought I lose even more time to look for her. He banged his head back against his bed, but he just ended up hitting the mattress, though he supposed it was better for his head. This killer was good at what they did, even if what he did was completely horrific and psychotic, they were amazing at making Noah lose hope, and feel painfully helpless. But, he couldn’t help but wonder, why did the killer want him at this party? No doubt they had something planned, but what was it? And how did he know he was about to send a text?

Suddenly, he shot up from where he had been sprawled on the floor, and rushed towards the side of the room where his windows were. He drew the blackout curtains, successfully blocking any view that anyone could have into the room, and subsequently darken the room exponentially. He backed away from the curtains slowly, and looked around his room frantically, scared that maybe the killer was already in here with him. His phone ringed with another text notification, lighting up the relatively dark room, another text from ‘Unknown’. 

‘YOU REALLY SHOULDN’T HAVE SENT EMMA THOSE PICTURES’ Noah gulped, he had no idea that he was supposed to keep this to himself, how could he, the killer never said anything. But maybe that was his goal, maybe he knew Noah would send it to Emma, and just wanted to make him feel like he had a chance, when he really didn’t. ‘NOW YOU’LL PAY FOR YOUR MISTAKES’, another text message rolled in, and it was just as confusing and terrifying as the last. 

Noah trudged over to his desk, throwing roughly on the desk, and feeling horribly defeated. He looked up at his laptop which was still set-up for tracking Audrey’s phone, and sighed, the killer had set-up firewalls to make it nearly impossible for him to get through it. It was taking a forever but he had made some progress, and ended up getting through one of the fire walls. He decided that, if he had to go to this stupid party later, he should at least try and make more progress, so that his day was not completely wasted. So, after sending a quick thumbs up emoji to Brooke, he readied himself on his chair, and began clicking away, trying to break through another firewall, it was going to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DAY TWO 8:37 PM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma slowed the car as she arrived in Noah’s driveway, and honked the horn to signal him that she was there. Emma had offered to pick him up on their way to Kieran’s party, so that they could catch each other up on the events of the past few days. The killer had texted Emma too, threatening to send her one of Audrey’s fingers in a box if she didn’t go, so she had to go, regardless if she was feeling up to it or not. This asshole knew how to get what they wanted, they gotten her to start mistrusting everyone around her, other than Noah and Audrey. She had even started rejecting her best friend, and Brooke didn’t even know why she was so on edge, making her feel extra guilty.

Noah’s front door opened, and a very distraught, but well rested Noah came striding out. She flashed him a small smile, and waved at him, he quickly returned the wave as he came up to the passenger door of her car. He pulled it open, breathing a quick ‘Hi’, before jumping in vehicle, and pulling the heavy door closed behind him. Upon a closer look, she saw that his hair was disheveled, and his clothes were unusually wrinkled.

“Did he threaten you too?” Noah asked turning to look her as she turned the keys in the ignition, making the car rumbled. She nodded at him, and started rolling out of his driveway, with her hands turning white from her grip on the steering wheel. They bumped around in the car as they rolled off the driveways uneven pavers. Noah sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket and checking the time, frustrated that he hadn’t gotten more done in the time that he had. “He deleted the video from my phone, I think he’s got something sick planned.” Noah admitted, making Emma glance away from the road for a second to look at him, her expression a mixture of fear and worry, he mirrored it right back at her.

“Do you have any idea who could be doing this?” She asked, her voice breaking slightly, at the thought of what they were going to do, either to Audrey or any one of her other friends. Noah licked his lips, he hadn’t really put much thought into that, he was just so focused on finding her that he hadn’t worried for a second about who it was. If he really thought about it, they had no leads to who it could be this time, no Tyler to blame, no nothing, they were elusive and that really pissed Noah off.

“this has to be Piper’s accomplice, it explained why they would target Audrey, since she was the one who shot Piper in the chest, and brought that gun that you eventually would use to shoot her point blank in the head.” Noah said, voicing his thoughts aloud, since he didn’t want to keep Emma in the dark about anything, it was better if they worked as a team, maybe then they would be able to save her from this killers game. “Maybe, he’s pissed at her because she was the cause of Piper’s brutal demise, and wants revenge on her for that! And maybe you too, maybe that’s why he’s playing this game, two birds with one stone, physically torture Audrey, and mentally torture you.” The vigor in his speech decreased as he realized that this killer was probably out for vengeance, and would probably not let her live, even if they could find her in time.

“Well, before Audrey shot her, Piper told me she had one more surprise for me, do you think that her ‘surprise’ was her accomplice?” Emma asked as she turned a familiar sharp corner that led towards Kieran’s house. Noah bit his lip at her question, he didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but what she was proposing was perfectly possible. He had always wondered who had attacked Piper and Will, so maybe this killer really was Piper’s surprise, in fact, this killer might’ve been working with Piper from the very beginning.

“It’s possible, I mean, Piper obviously had an accomplice, this guy, Eddie, saw her talking to a girl, so maybe the girl that he was talking to was the accomplice.” He suggested, watching Emma’s face contort in distress, and tears to prick in her eyes. Noah immediately felt guilt build up in his stomach, and he turned in his seat to face her. “Oh, oh I’m sorry Emma I didn’t mean to upset you, I just… I’m just scared.” He confessed, hanging his head and averting his eyes.

“It’s fine Noah, it’s not you… it’s just, why is this happening again?!” Her voice quavered and broke, which just brought the horrifying reality of this whole situation into a better, or worse, light, depending on how you looked at it. Noah sighed and righted himself in his seat, she was distressed, they both were, and for good reasons, but it was nearly impossible to comfort someone when you couldn’t find comfort yourself.

“I don’t know, Emma I don’t know.” He mumbled in the silence that had filled the car, but music would’ve felt so wrong to listen to, it would feel wrong to sit here, enjoying music while Audrey suffered off in some unknown location, all by herself. She was suffering, she was in pain, she was scared, and worst of all, she was alone. The only reason she had been alone in the first place is because he had been an asshole, and he promised himself that he would never leave her alone again, no matter how angry he was. “But we have to find Audrey, no matter what.”

Emma nodded, shifting the car into ‘Park’ as they reached Kieran’s house, and rolled up onto the driveway of the well-lit house. The blinds on all of the windows she could see were closed, but she could still see the faint glow of lights from the inside of the house, and she could hear faint talking from within. Emma took one last look at a very uneasy Noah, before popping open her car door, and swiftly climbing out. As soon as her feet hit the pavement, she heard a loud yell of ‘False Alarm!’ from inside the now loud house. She heard the other car door open and shut, and watching as Noah crept out from the other side of the car. They walked to the front door together, both a little scared. Emma was at the door first, but it was Noah that knocked, and barely three seconds after, a very cheery Eli pulled the door open, flashing a smile at the both of them.

“Hey! Kieran should be here any minute, come on in so we can surprise him!” He said, ushering them inside and shutting the heavy door behind them. This party was packed, full of people Emma barely knew, a few of them she was friends with, but mostly this just felt strange and uncomfortable to her. Obviously Noah felt the same, by how clammy his face looked as he looked at how crowded it was. “Where’s the Audrey?” Eli asked, but before either of them could answer, he had to go stop a girl from vomiting in his mom’s favorite vase of flowers.

“Crowded parties are never good.” Noah said, turning his head to look at her, and gulping with uncertainty. “People always wander off for different reason, sex, or they’re drunk, or whatever.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing happened, all night, nothing had happened, it has just been a normal surprise party, Kieran was a little confused, but overall happy. By this time, almost everyone had gone home, Kieran had gotten himself drunk and was past out in his room, Stavo had taken Brooke home, and gone home himself, and Zoe had driven home early, since she had a test to study for. The only people who left at the trashed house was Emma, Noah, and Eli, but Eli was out of it, he kept waking up then falling back to sleep, muttering about some girl named ‘Nicole’. Emma and Noah had been to scared to drink, this killer wanted them here for a reason, and whatever that reason was, they needed to be sober to deal with it.

“I don’t get it, I just don’t! Noah said, launching up from his seat on the couch, and failing his arms around in frustration “All night, we were here all night,and not a thing! Did he just want us here so that we couldn’t work towards trying to find her?!” He asked, more to himself than to Emma, who was sitting on the couch still, staring down at her shoes.

As if it was answering him, the TV that had been playing old reruns of ‘Friends’ switched to a black screen, and instead of the cued laugh tracks, there was silence. Emma looked at Noah, who had calmed down immediately from his outburst the second the TV had changed. A video loaded on-screen, it showed a body, hung upside down, and flailing widely, they only knew who it was when he ended up flailing to the point that his head was on-screen as well. Jake, it was Jake. Emma gasped behind him, cupping a hand over mouth in terror as someone in a black raincoat and the Brandon James mask, walked on-screen, with a sharpened scythe in their gloved hand, and sliced a giant, gaping hole through Jake. Emma started crying, she couldn’t help it, and Noah found himself on the verge of tears as well, even though he hadn’t been friends with Jake for a while. 

“I think I’m gonna throw up.” Noah warned, but Emma didn’t take her eyes off the screen as it cut to another video, this one was darker, but they could still make out Audrey’s shape. It didn’t take Noah long to realize what it was, it was the video, and to make matters worse, Eli started to wake up, properly this time.

“What going on?” Eli asked Emma groggily, lifting his head off the couch, but Emma didn’t even look at him, she didn’t want to take her eyes off the screen and miss a clue to where Audrey was. Eli sobered up quickly as he saw the tears that were streaming down Emma’s distressed face, he sat up, scooting over to her, and cautiously wrapping a comforting arm around her. Surprisingly, she leaned into him, he was confused for why she was being so compliant until he turned and saw the horrors on-screen. He had assumed that the screams he had been hearing had been from a horror movie or something, since Noah was here, but when he actually listened, those were Audrey’s screams, full of pain and terror.

Noah, just like Emma, was traumatized. He turned away, covering his ears with his hands as tears actually fell from his eyes this time. He couldn’t watch this, he couldn’t listen to this, all of this was unbearable. He couldn’t watch as his best friend got flogged, he didn’t want to hear when she screamed for help, or when she just screamed, although the worst was when she screamed for him, begging him to help her. Between her screams wasn’t anything better either, all he could hear was her quiet sobs and pants.

The video cut out again, leaving a blank screen, with echos of Audrey’s pain fueled screams filling the air. Emma was shaking and sobbing, Noah was crying and covering his ears wanting it all to stop, and Eli was stuck in stunned silence, he had a rough idea of what was going on, he could put two and two together. So, he rubbed small circles on Emma’s back as she sobbed into her hands, trying to comfort her in any way he could.

They were all startled by Noah’s phone, which started ringing, in retrospect, it probab;t wasn’t that loud, but in the uncomfortable silence of the living room, it felt incredibly loud. Noah pulled it out of his back pocket, sniffling all the while, but he wasn’t surprised at who was calling him, it was the killer, using Audrey’s phone. He wanted to chuck it all the wall, but he knew the killer wouldn’t be happy about that.

“It’s him.” He croaked to Emma and Eli, who were both looking expectantly at him. Noah slide his shaky finger across the phone answering the call, and putting it quickly on speaker for Emma and Eli to hear. “What the hell is wrong with you, you asshole?” He said through gritted teeth, trying to keep his voice steady, so that the killer didn’t know that they were getting to him, even though they probably already knew.

“Noah? Noah, it’s Audrey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no, now Eli's involved! Emma should really be more careful, what did they killer say before...? (I'll be updating again soon, and that chapter will be very action packed.) So what do you think, is that really Audrey, or is it just the killer?
> 
> Please review!


	6. Hospital

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is coming out so mcuh quicker compared to how long it took me to make the last one, but the plotbunnies wouldn't leave me alone, so here we are again! This chapter was really fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it! Also, a big thank you to everyone that left me Kudos, and a double thank you to everyone who commented!

“Audrey?” Noah breathed, not quite believing it, even though it was Audrey’s voice on the other end of the phone, he wanted to believe it, but he couldn’t trust anything blindly. “Is it really you? If this is the killer, and you’re just pretending  to be Audrey to trick us?” He was suddenly getting defensive, as he became more and more convinced of his theory as he voiced it. He heard a quiet, pained groan from the phone, and this only made him think even more that it was the killer on the other side of the phone, they were trying to act hurt so that Noah that it was Audrey.

“God, Foster, why do you have to over analyse everything?” an extremely agitated Audrey asked, through the phone, Noah was starting to believe it was her. He didn’t know if he could possibly be that lucky, did anyone in Lakewood ever get that lucky? Simple answer, no. Noah looked over at Emma and Eli, who were both watching him with concerned expressions on their faces. He mouthed ‘What do you think?’ to Emma, who stared at the wall for a moment, thinking, before looking back at Noah and mouthing ‘Test her’. That wasn’t a bad idea at all, actually, quite the opposite.

“Prove it, as clich é as this sounds, say something only Audrey would know.” It may have been really overdone, but if she said something that only she and him had been there for, he would be sure that it was Audrey, and he could find out where she was. A little spark of hope flickered in his chest, if this really was Audrey, they might be able to find her, and soon. There was silence on the other end of the call for a while, and it was starting to get unnerving, when a loud crash came through the phone.

“How?! How the hell do I even do that?!” Came Audrey’s angered voice through the phone, obviously she had knocked something over in her frustration, if that was, in fact, Audrey. Noah furrowed his brow, it was a hard question to answer, he could try and help her in a way, but how does he do that without compromising the question. Noah looked back at Emma, but she wasn’t paying attention, Eli had enveloped her in a hug as her tears resurfaced.

“Okay, okay, how about this, when Emma..l” He trailed off for a moment, meeting Emma’s eyes as she heard her own name being said, and he averted his eyes, knowing that Emma would probably feel guilty, but would probably be more upset if took it off speaker. “When Emma left you, that night when you were uh, ya know, what did you say to me, what were your exact words?” he asked, trying to keep it vague, not mentioning that she had been crying, although it was more to protect Emma at this point. He could hear a shaky breath being taken as she recalled the memory.

“I asked, ‘Once, we graduate, can we travel the world together, and leave Lakewood and everything in it behind?’” She said, reciting her words perfectly, since she wanted to do just that, she wanted out, especially now. Noah practically sobbed with relief, this was Audrey, it was actually her. He looked back at Emma, and felt his burst of joy lessen a little, she was staring at him with a confused look, and would bet that he knew what she was thinking. She was thinking about how if they hadn’t become friends again, Audrey was just going to leave, and she never would’ve seen her again.

“Oh god, Audrey!” He said, and he thought he heard a small and breathy, ‘Finally’ from the phone, but he was sure if it was that, or just heavy breathing. “Where are you?!” He asked soon after, and he wanted to just sit there and talk to her for a while, but he knew he couldn’t, the killer could attack her at any second. Plus, there would be plenty of time to talk to her when she was safe.

“If I had any idea, don’t you think I would told you already!” she retorted angrily, cursing under her breath at his ignorance. Eli pushed himself off the couch, patting Emma gently on the shoulder, before striding over to Noah, he didn’t know Audrey that well, but Emma seemed to care for her, so he was going to do whatever he could to help out. He motioned for Noah to pass him the phone, and Noah, after a couple of seconds of defensive glaring, reluctantly passed him the phone.

“Audrey, It’s Eli, can you see anything around you that might tip off where you are?” He asked, ignoring the bitch face that Noah threw his way, that seemed to say ‘I could’ve done that’. Emma came off the couch, walking over to where both Eli and Noah were standing, her eyes were still blotchy, but her tears had finally subsided completely.

“Eli, why are you there?! Wait, is anyone else there?!” She asked, suddenly extremely self-conscious about telling Noah what she had said that night. They all looked at each other, Noah hadn’t realized that Audrey had no idea Emma was involved, she thought that it was just Noah that was trying to find her. She had no reason to know Emma was involved, all of the interactions that they had with the killer had been through Noah. He took the phone back from Eli, wanting control of the situation again.

“It’s Eli, Emma, and I.” He said, looking down at her contact photo, it was a zoomed in photo of her smiling, he tried to imagine that that was what she looked like right now, even though he knew that it was wrong. He heard her gulp from the other side of the phone, and before she could say anything snarky, he spoke again, rephrasing Eli’s pressing question. “Seriously, Aud, do you see anything that could help us find you? Just, tell us what you see.”

“Noah, I’m in a tiny room that is a little smaller than the master bathroom in your house, there;s nothing in it beside a silver cart, it has no windows, and the door is locked, so no, I don’t see shit.” She spat, but her voice was quiet, as if she was trying not to be heard, and when he thought about it, she probably was, because if the killer heard her, there would be hell to pay. Noah bit his lip, if she couldn’t see anything, then she might not be much help after all, but she was strong, maybe she could knock down the door.

“Remember that time we went to that abandoned house? The door was locked so you kicked it open, try doing that now.” He suggested, only to get an irritated groan in return, making him furrow his brow in confusion, it wasn’t a bad plan, if she could get out of that room, she could figure out where she was, and they could come get her. “What? What’s the problem?” He asked, concern filling his voice, he thought that the killer might be there, and she was pretending to just be moaning to herself.

“Noah,” She started, in a clear yet irritated voice, “I barely have the energy to stand, let alone knock a door down.” She explained, making Noah’s heart drop from his chest. Was she really in that much pain? She didn’t sound like it over the phone, but she had always been good at hiding the things she felt, whether it was mentally or physically. They all looked at each other trying to think of something, and Noah assumed it would be himself who figured out first, but it was Emma that spoke up.

“You got into the phone right?” She asked, receiving a quick hum of agreement in response. She licked her dry lips, and continued, “You could go on like, some GPS app or something.” She gestured wildly, but it seemed to only be to herself, since she did it more to the phone than Eli or Noah. It wasn’t a bad plan, but so many things could go wrong, they could run into the killer and get killed themselves, the killer could find out and kill Audrey before they got to her, or, the killer could move her and make her suffer because of what they had tried to do. Noah could help but wonder, was the risk really worth it, or should they just play by the rules?

“Hang on, I’ll go to Google maps, that’s usually quite accurate.” She said, and they could hear some shuffling as she pulled the phone away from her ear. “Okay, you’re on speaker now, so stay quiet.” She warned, and she must’ve been scared, because her voice was barely a whisper. There was more shffling, and Noah didn’t even dare to breathe, it took a lot to scare Audrey Jensen, so he had an idea of how terrifying the situation must’ve been. “Got it, I’m the abandoned hospital.” She breathed, more to herself than them, and the disbelief that she felt was obvious in her quiet voice, Noah felt himself slip into a state of disbelief himself. Maybe he was being pessimistic, but something about this seemed  _ way  _ too easy.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from Audrey’s side of the phone, startling all three of them, and only Noah jumped out of his skin when another loud thud sounded after the first. They could hear Audrey’s heavy breathing through the phone still, but it sounded far away, like she was a few feet away from the phone now. All that they heard before the the call cut off, was a deathly quiet ‘Hurry’ that might’ve just been her breathing. Regardless, they knew where she was now, but, for a second, all of them stood in stunned silence, before Noah bolted to the front,followed closely by Emma, and subsequently, Eli.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Audrey slide the phone under her once she ended, blocking it from view as the killer threw the door open roughly, letting it slam on the opposite wall. They strode towards her, knife in hand, and she could tell from their posture alone that they weren’t happy, she didn’t know why, because she was being really quiet, and they didn’t say anything once she put them on speaker. 

The killer towered over her, as he stood directly beside her, peering down at her bloody and broken figure. She glared at them through her messy bangs, having to tilt her head back so she could she them from where she sat on the floor. She wasn’t leaned against the wall anymore, she couldn’t, not with the large red welts and slashes that now decorating her back. They were throbbing when all they touched was the air, so she didn’t want to feel what it felt like to lay down on her back. But, she still couldn’t go far away from the wall, because once she had passed out, he had moved her back over to the wall that she originally sat at and tied her up with a new rope, she could tell it was new, since it wasn’t covered in her blood.

Without of word from his distorted voice, he picked his booted foot up off the dirty ground, and slammed it down hard, directly on the stab wound that they had put on her thigh. She let out a long cry of pain and surprise, they had moved so swiftly that she hadn’t had time to react, but that wasn’t saying much, because her reaction time right now was  _ not  _ something to brag about. She had lack of sleep and blood loss to thank for that. The killer kept pressing down on her thigh, until she stopped herself from screaming, and instead reverted to taking heavy, yet shaky breaths. Then, he started digging their heel into the infected wound painfully, ripping at it, and making blood pour out of it yet again. She bit down on her tongue, since she had some inclination that they were about to do something this time, so she had braced herself.

When she refused to scream, they kicked her in the face, making her head swing to the side and the upper half of her body crumple to the floor. She groaned in pain, and cringed when she taste the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, but she considered herself lucky that she didn’t land on her back. After a few seconds used to recuperate her strength, she tried to lifted herself off the ground, pressing her open palms to the floor to push herself. She managed to push herself partway up, when the killer brought foot down on the side of her head, slamming her back down to the floor, and banging her head on the floor hard enough to make her ears ring. She glared up at them, knowing she probably looked silly, with one cheek smooshed against her jaw, and the other crushed on the ground.

They crouched down, keeping their foot firmly on her face so that she couldn’t move, that didn’t stop her from trying, in fact, it made her muster up her strength to squirm around under them. They rose back up, holding something in their left hand. She shifted her gaze, trying to get a look at him, but the foot on her head blocked her view, so she she didn’t see when he kicked her in the  stomach, and sent her sprawling onto her back. As she landed, she felt the fire on her back start to burn with pain yet again, as the ground touched her open wounds. She tried to bite back the scream that rose in her throat, but the pain that back was suffering overpowered her willpower, by a lot.

She let out a loud scream full of pain and agony, which proved to be a mistake, as the killer stomped down on her throat with the same foot they had held her down with, cutting off her airway. She gasped for air, since she had used up most of it screaming, but she got nothing, her lungs started to burn, along with her back, and she clawed desperately at their leg, trying to get them to lift their foot enough for her to regain her lost breath. Her legs started flailing as she tried weakly to kick him off her, but he was to far away, and she wasn’t sure it would do much good anyway, since she had little strength left. Black dots starting appearing in her vision from lack of oxygen, obscuring it more and more as the dots grew in her vision.

Then, just as she felt as if she was going to pass out, he removed his foot from her windpipe, watching as she sucked in a long breath. But, she soon regretted this, as it overwhelmed her lungs, and she ended up coughing and gagging, she turned onto her side in order to relieve her back. She was focusing too much on breathing to notice the killer stalking in front of her, she only noticed when their shoes came into her line of vision. She looked up slowly, still gasping for air, and came face to face with a knife that was pointed directly at her, it was so close to her that it was almost touching her nose, but she wasn’t going to let that scare her. 

“What is this?” She asked between breaths, and her voice was hoarse from the strangling. She stared at him, ignoring the knife and instead looking at the haunting eyes of the mask, to try and seem like she was scared, even though she was absolutely terrified, and for good reason. The killer tilted their masked head to the side, demonstrating confusion without actually having to anything. “All of this, what is it about, for you? The whole murder spree, ‘cause for Piper it was about Maggie abandoning her, but you? You’re just an asshole with a murder kink.” She continued answering his unasked question, and driving the killer to send another kick at her face. She was almost sent to the floor again, but she stopped herself with her palms, and pushed herself into a sitting position.

The killer pulled their left hand up her face, showing her exactly what they picked up from the floor. A phone, more specifically,  _ her phone _ , the one she had so cleverly stolen away from them, and used to call Noah for help. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she realized that, even though she had been quiet, and they couldn’t have heard her, she had forgotten in her haste that they had set up a camera to watch her with. The killer traced circles on her cheeks with his sharpened knife, drawing a little blood from when he pressed down a little to hard.  _ Oh shit  _ She thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Jesus Noah! Slow down before we get into a crash!” Emma pleaded from the back seat of her car. Noah had demanded the keys, because there was no way he was going to let traffic laws get in the way of them finding Audrey. He ignored Emma, and tightened his already vice-like grip on the steering wheel. His eyes never left the road, which was probably as safe as they could get him to be about this. Emma sighed, turning back to Eli, who was passing her a large kitchen knife that she could use to defend herself with, and grabbing a smaller, but still sharp knife for himself. Emma reached over and grabbed another knife, setting it aside for Noah when they reached they the hospital, which was probably going to be soon, judging by how fast Noah was zooming through the empty streets.

“Emma, we can do this, we’ll save Audrey.” Eli said, since without even realizing it, she had let her fears show on her face. Emma flashed him a small smile and nodded, knowing that Eli was lying to made her feel better, not that she believed it, but she appreciated the gesture. Emma had told him everything the second he got the car, after a bit of pleading for him to not do just that. But, if she was going to put herself in danger, Eli was going to be there right next to her, to help her and Noah beat this asshole. Noah surprised both Eli and Emma as he slammed the car to a stop, making both of them fly forwards, And it didn’t help that  they hadn’t bothered to buckle up in their rush to get to Audrey. Luckily, the knives Emma was holding dropped down to the floor of the car, but Eli wasn’t as luckily, his knife went into Emma’s leather car seat.

“Noah!” Eli and Emma yelled in unison, both equally pissed about him not at least warning them that he was about to suddenly hit the brakes. Eli pulled the knife from the seat roughly, giving Emma a hugely apologetic expression on his face, she just waved it off, knowing it was completely Noah’s fault. She reached down, collecting her two dropped knifes from the floor, and shooting Noah an annoyed look through the rearview mirror. Noah meet her gaze for a moment, but ignored her, and pulled on the handle, successfully popping open the door, he pushed it open  the rest of the way, giving Emma one last glance, before jumping out of her car.

Emma followed soon afterwards, and as she shut her door, she heard Eli’s open and close as well. Emma blew out a shaky breath, trying to calm her nerves, because they needed to do this, no matter how dangerous it was. Eli came jogging around from the other side of her car, clutching his knife in his right hand, but it was turned around so that the blade was resting lightly on his wrist. Emma waited until he caught up to, then started walking to the entrance, where Noah stood, trying to rip off the wooden boards that they had put back up after her and Audrey had broken in. thinking about that time, when her and Audrey were working together, hit her heart hard, but she tried to let it show, because she knew that they were all scared right now, especially Noah. 

“Dammit!” Noah said, kicking one of the board that was nailed to the bottom of the door. “The police made sure we couldn’t get in here again.” he said, venom dripping from his voice, and Emma thought was a bit disturbing to hear that much anger in his usually happy voice. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked around, searching with his eyes for something that he could use to pull the planks off, or just break them, if he had to. Emma soon joined in, but she was more hands on, she pushed around in the bushes, searching for anything that they could use.

“There a window we can climb in.” Eli said, noticing how distressed and frustrated Noah was starting to look. Emma perked up at his words, wondering why exactly he knew this place well enough to know that there was a window to crawl through. Noah, on the other hand, didn’t seem to think twice about it as he walked up to him, and waved Emma over. He was about to ask where it was, when Eli cut him off, knowing what his question was. “It’s around here, follow me.” he said, pointing down a corner of the worn down hospital. Eli starts walking around the building, carefully stepping over debris and plants, so that he didn’t trip, he also grabbed Emma’s hand and lead her through the path he evidently knew extremely well. Noah followed a little bit farther behind, tripping over every other thing, and wishing he Audrey there to help guide him, since he knew this is something she would be weirdly good at.

“Here it is.” Eli announced as they approached a window that had been bashed in, apparently from the outside, since the broken glass was scattered on the inside, and Noah couldn’t help but wonder if it was Eli who had broken this window. Eli took off the jacket he was wearing, and laid it across the bottom of the window, so that they could climb through the window without cutting themselves on the tidbits of broken glass that still clung to the sides, top and bottom the window. Noah really didn’t want to cut himself on  _ anything _ , even if it didn’t belong to the killer, because he was pretty sure that almost anything in the disgusting place would give them tetanus. Eli climbed in through the window first, hopping expertly over the the thigh-high wall, and the second he landed, he turned around, and offered Emma a hand. She quickly took it, climbing carefully through the window, and leaving dirty footprints on Eli’s jacket, but he didn’t mind, he was expecting it. Noah hopped in through the window quickly, grumbling a little at the fact that neither of them had offered him a hand, but he tried not to dwell on it, since the first thought that came to mind was,  _ Audrey would’ve helped me, she always does _ . 

“Where do we start?” Emma asked, pulling out her phone, and turning on the flashlight on her it, since, in their rush, they had neglected to pick up some much needed  _ proper  _ flashlights. Noah and Eli followed her lead, also in need of flashlights, and while they weren’t they best flashlights, it was better than nothing. Noah didn’t know where to start either, the whole place felt different, since the police had taken away everything that Piper had put up, and he wasn’t sure if it was better, or creepier this way, because at least with Piper, she had obviously been trying, this killer didn’t even have to.  

“Audrey said she was in a small, windowless room, with nothing in it.” Emma said, recalling Audrey’s words, so that maybe they could find her faster. No one spoke after that, all lost in thought, because they had no idea where that. Something about the description rung a bell to her, but she didn’t know why, so she began racking her brain, and running the words over in her head, whilst looking around, with her flashlight shining dimly on the far walls. Her gaze drifted to a sign, that she assumed said ‘ICU’ and had an arrow next it, but now it was mostly peeled off, with the ghost of letters where the painted used to be. Suddenly, something clicked in her brain, and she turned to Noah, who was looking down a hallway, that his phones weak flashlight barely lit up. “Noah, does this place have a psych ward?” She asked, picturing the small cramped room that you had to stay in, they were tiny and cramped, so if they had them, she would be willing to bet that that was where she was. And, if anyone would know if this place had them, it would be Noah, he knew everything about Brandon James.

“Yeah, actually.” He said, turning around and meeting her eyes, and quickly connecting the dots that Emma had connected. Noah gave her a quizzical look, wondering how she had even figured it out, and, how she figured it out before she did, since he knew that Brandon James spent a lot of his time in the hospital in the psych ward, not because of him, but because others were scared of him. “I was in a psych ward, remember? I recognized the description. Do you have any idea where it is?” She asked, beginning to search the torn up walls for a map of the entire hospital, since, even though he he knew more than anyone else there about him, she doubted he knew exactly where it was.

“Well it’s probably-” Noah started, but he was cut off by a long, bloodcurdling scream from somewhere above them, that he knew all too well, it was Audrey, in pain. All their heads turned upwards towards the scream, and Noah didn’t even look at them before he decided to bolt towards the stairs that he had seen on his first visit here, when Piper was the one killing people.  He charged down the hallway being unnecessarily loud, as he knocked things over in his haste, driven by his best friend’s screams echoing down the hallway. He ran directly into the door that blocked his path, it was a push door, so he was expecting it to swing open, but it turned out to be locked, and he ended up smacking into it, and falling down the floor. He groaned, clutching the back of his head, and cringing when he felt the sore point, his ears were ringing slightly from the fall, but he quickly regained his composure as the ringing faded away, and was replaced by Audrey’s pained screams.

He used his hands to push himself off the ground, and put a hand on the wall to keep himself upright as the world began swimming around him. The walls beside him were all dark, and he slowly became aware that he had dropped his phone, but he couldn’t see it, he couldn’t see anything at this point, since he could see two versions of each wall, making moving around incredibly difficult to do. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get them to focus, since he could still hear her screaming, he didn’t even think he heard her stop and take a breath. His palm slipped off where it was sitting on the wall, because he had swayed away from it slightly without noticing, and he started falling. Just as he was about to crash into the floor, he felt to small, but strong, hands under his armpits, holding him his upper half upright, while his feet still dragged lightly across the floor. He opened his eyes, and he was a foot from Emma’s worried face, he quickly, got back on his feet, and noticing that his vision, while still a tiny bit messed up, had almost returned to normal at this point, and Audrey’s screams had dissipated into silence, leaving horrifying echos behind.

“Where’s Eli?” He asked, looking over her shoulder and seeing no one behind her, which was odd, because Eli seemed to want to stay near Emma every second of their rescue mission. Emma turned around, smacking Noah in face with her ponytail in the process, but he was to worried about Eli to care much. Hoping Eli was just a little behind, but knowing that something had probably happened to him, even if he didn’t want to believe it. Emma began whipping her head around, looking for any sign of him, dead or alive, but both of them were really hoping to find him alive.

“Eli?!” Emma shouted, over and over again, never getting the response from him that she craved, and while Noah and him hadn’t talked much, he didn’t want him to die, he didn’t want anyone to die, but if he had to, he would choose Audrey over him. Emma turned back to him, running a hand along her pulled back hair, and meeting his shaky gaze, with one of her own. “I’m- I’m gonna go look for him, you go find Audrey.” She said matter-of-factly, but Noah knew better than to do that, separating never ended well, for anyone, especially since if they split up, both of them would be on their own.

“Wait! Wait, Emma! That’s what he wants, I think he figured out that we’re here, and if he didn’t, you screaming for Eli really didn’t help.” He said, but Emma brushed it off, leaning down to pick his fallen phone off the floor, using her own as a flashlight to find it. Noah took his phone, but as Emma started to walk back the way she came, he put a hand on her shoulder, halting her, but just as he was about to start trying to convince her, something interrupted him. Audrey was screaming again, he felt a pang in his chest, and starting looking for an alternate entrance to the stairs, Emma did the same, she assumed that Eli could deal with himself, and would call if there was any trouble.This was proven wrong when another’s screamed mingled with Audrey’s.

  
Eli was screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wrote just a little bit more, but I felt like this was a good place ot end this chapter, since it makes a good cliffhanger. I still need a beta, so if you see any grammer or spelling mistakes, please tell me!
> 
> Please Review!


	7. The Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are again. this one took longer than I wanted it to, but here it is. A mega thank you to everyone who commented, you rock. And, a thank you to the people who Kudos!
> 
> Please Review!

Emma ran back down the hallway, ignoring Noah’s pleas for her to slow down, or stop altogether. She thought he was creepy at first, but Eli was growing on her, and she honestly thought he was one of the best people she knew, which was weird for her, since she had trouble trusting new people now. The only people she trusted when she returned were the Lakewood six, and her mother, because she believed that they would never do anything to hurt her, since they had all suffered with her during Pipers attacks. But Eli had managed to weasel himself into her circle of trust, and maybe it was misplaced, but she wanted to believe that he was a good person, Kieran hadn’t exactly vouched for him, but not all family gets along. The thoughts of Kieran made her want to find Eli even more, since, even if they hated each other, she doubted that he wanted Eli dead, Kieran wasn’t like that.

“Eli?” She shouted, despite Noah’s warnings to stay quiet, usually, she was good under pressure, but right now, she was also trying to keep herself from having the mental breakdown that she had been avoiding. She had managed to keep herself stable, aside from the nightmares, but everything was happening so  _ fast _ . She needed the world to slow down, and let her collect her scattered thoughts, but the world slowed for no one, and neither did this Killer, so she couldn’t either. Everything was just becoming so overwhelming, she found herself facing impossible decisions, she had to go after Audrey or Eli, and at first, it seemed like a simple choice, but, when did this asshole ever make decisions easy. She knew Audrey was probably in worse shape, but she also knew that even if she ran after Eli, Noah would break his horror rules in favor of Audrey, and go after her alone. “Go find Audey!” she shouted over shoulder, and while she didn’t see him, she definitely  _ heard  _ him halt to a stop, and stand there for a few moments, before turning around and going back towards the door that he had been trying to get through.

She whipped around a corner, grabbing the wall to help her make the tight turn, Eli wasn’t screaming anymore, just groaning and moaning, but she could still hear and follow it because it echoed down the hallways hauntingly. She never slowed, even though she wasn’t quite sure where she was going, and the echo kept throwing her off. This proved itself to be a mistake, as she accidentally checked an old cart with her thigh, making her crumple to the ground in surprise. She groaned, pushing her upper half off the hard ground and looking down at her leg, it wasn’t cut in any way, but from how painful that was, she was sure that a bruise as already forming where it struck. The hallway looked alarmingly dark when she looked down, and she was confused until she saw her phone resting face-up on the ground beside her, she grabbed it off of where it had crashed on the floor, and checked to make sure that the flashlight hadn’t turned off or broken.

She used the cart that she had just smacked into to pull herself up, going easy on her leg so that it didn’t hurt as much. She started to hobble towards where she thought Eli was again. When someone grabbed the collar of her shirt, and pulled her backwards, sending her onto  the floor behind her, and the phone that she had just received flying out of her hands, and landing somewhere far behind her. Her eyes weren’t adjusted to the darkness, so she couldn’t see her attacker, but she had a feeling she knew who that was, it couldn’t be Eli or Noah, since she was pretty sure Eli dying or injured, and Noah couldn’t throw her back like that if he wanted to, he didn’t have enough muscle in his skinny arms. And, the only other people that were here, were Audrey, and the Killer, and Audrey wasn’t in the best shape. She didn’t waste anytime trying to confirm her suspicions, she quickly scrambled to her feet, and ran in the opposite direction of the killer, ignoring the pain that erupted in her leg.

She ran into another hallway, and began trying all the doorknobs, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to outrun this guy, so she had to get something between the two of them. There were doors covering both sides of the hallway, so she hoped that at least one of them would be unlocked. She ran back and forth, jiggling the doorknobs, but none of the doors even budged. She was surprised to find out that quite a few were unlocked, but if they weren’t unlocked, they were jammed, so she still couldn’t get into them. If she had had time, she probably could’ve rammed her shoulder into one of the jammed ones enough that it would open, but she didn’t have time for that, since the killer was close behind her. The killer wasn’t even running, they were walking leisurely behind her, twirling their knife threateningly, in their right hand, and she had no doubt that they were relishing in her evident panic and fear. 

Even with their sluggish walking, they were catching up to her, since she had to keep running across the hallways to keep checking the doors. She was getting frustrated, this place was abandoned, why were all of these doors locked? They weren’t when she and Audrey went through it the first time, so why now? Did the police do it? It was very possible, but she had a bad feeling that the killer had done this, maybe they did it just in case Audrey got out, they probably wanted to make sure she couldn’t hide. The possibility alone made her absolutely sick, just the thought of Audrey, if she had gotten out at one point, running down the hallways, doing exactly what Emma was doing now, made her want to cry, and punch something at the same time. She reached the end of the hallway, and let out a frustrated groan, she had had no luck here, so she probably wouldn’t anywhere else, so she just had to run, she had to find someway to get them off her trail.

She ran into cubicles, looking around desperately for someplace she could hide, a desk alone wouldn’t hide her to well, but she didn’t seem like she had that many options. She needed to choose fast, because if she was still standing when she killer came around the corner, she wouldn’t be able to run this time. Eventually, she ducked underneath one of the desks, and rolled a chair in front of herself so that she was partially hidden from view. He covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her heavy breathing as she heard footsteps, they were coming nearer and nearer to where she was hidden. They couldn’t of seen her hide, she was alone when she ducked down… but, she didn’t know if they were in the room when she had rolled the chair. She winced at the sudden realization, they probably saw the chair, god, why was she so dumb?! A quiet thud came from her left, as if she killer and knocked it down just to torment her, just to let her know that he was getting close. She pulled her knees to her chest, and wrapped an arm around them, hugging them to herself, while keeping one hand clapped over her mouth. A stray tear dripped down her cheek and onto her hand, but she didn’t dare move, or make any sound.

She pressed herself back against the desk as the chair in front of her started to move, she couldn’t see anyone, so she imagined that the killer was deliberately hiding behind the desk and moving the chair, in an attempt to freak her out. It worked. She wouldn’t scream, although she wanted to, she wanted to let out a long, anguished scream for help, she wanted to call for Noah and Eli, if they were both still alive. The chair was pulled out roughly, and a knife came into view, instead, that time, she couldn’t stop herself, she screamed, and strangely enough, her attacker responded.

“Emma!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Audrey took a minute to steady her breathing, although it was quite hard for her to do, since she has wasted so much of it screaming. They hadn’t given her a new cut, but she didn’t know if that would’ve been better, or worse. All she knew was that _ everything _ hurt, especially her right leg, and all she could think about was the pain, causing her to groan and moan over and over again, without thinking about it. The killer had rekindled almost all of her wounds, with the exception of the brand, and the two stab wounds on either thigh, they had cut into each wound, digging their knife around until they all started bleeding profusely again. But the gash on the leg, that one was supposed to make her suffer, that one was the only he truly wanted to torment her with, after they had cut into it, they had taken a small, handheld container out from under the raincoat, and poured its contents onto the already painful wound. It didn’t take her long to realize that it was salt, as it started to burn, but the killer wasn’t satisfied they wanted to see her scream and cry, so they began to rub it in, then she screamed louder than ever before. Then, he had left, she wasn’t complaining, she was just confused, and a tiny bit scared, if they were leaving, that might mean that they had something planned, and she didn’t think she could take anymore of this.

She sat there, writhing in her own blood, and tears, for what felt like hours, but she knew it hadn’t been that long, time seemed to pass painfully slowly here. Slowly, she closed her tired eyes, and tried to just  _ sleep _ .they hadn’t bothered to tie her back up, probably because they knew that every move she made sent unbearable pain shooting through her body. Her mind was telling her she need to get up, do  _ something,  _ but, Noah was coming, Noah was going to help her, all she had to do was sit, and wait, and eventually he would come in, and she would be able to see his goofy smile again, she could look into those blue eyes, that always promised safety for her. No, no, that was wrong, _ she _ was wrong, she was so  _ stupid, _ if Noah came here, he was going to die, she had unknowingly put him into danger, and if he got hurt, or god forbid,  _ died _ , it would be all her fault.

Now she felt motivated to get up, she wasn’t just going to sit there while this asshole could be attacking the most important person in her entire world. She pressed her palms to the ground, and gradually pushed herself up, she made it halfway to a sitting position, when she couldn’t stop herself, she cried out. She cringed at how loud it was, she couldn’t have them finding out, she was getting away and pulled one of her hands from the ground, so she pressed the palm of her hand to her mouth, stifling the scream that erupted from her sore throat and she sat on her injured leg accidentally. She shot up after doing that, and felt tears drip down her blood-covered face. She placed a hand on the wall behind her, leaning heavily against it as she pushed herself to her feet. The second she straightened herself out, her knees buckled, but she held her dainty self up with the help of the wall. She didn’t think she’d be able to hold herself up, not with the current strength she had, but she could feel adrenaline rushing through her veins, she imagines that that was the only reason she was still functioning. So, she was basically running on fumes, reassuring. She started to move along the wall, and groaning because how much it hurt her wounds, and because she knew it was going to a while, when she heard a shrill scream.

“Emma.” she breathed, feeling a mixture of shock, relief, and terror, she really hoped that Emma was just screaming because Eli had accidentally scared the shit out of her. Either way, she started shuffling forward faster, driven by fear for her former best friend’s life, giving her the strength to ignore that burning pain from her entire body. She trudged to the door, prepared to bang and scream so that Noah, Eli, and Emma could find her, but when she leaned on the door for support, it flung open, making her fall to the floor, since the wall was supporting virtually all of her weight. The door smacked against the wall with a loud  _ thud _ , and bounced off it, and she managed to move out of the way before it came back at her.

“Shit.” She muttered, hoping that the killer hadn’t heard that, though she knew it was highly unlikely, so she had to get out of there as quickly as she could. She pushed herself back to her feet, limping along the wall as quickly as she could, which was still incredibly slowly, and she knew that if the killer saw her, she would be dead. But, with all of her fumbling, she imagines that she was very easy to see, even in the low lighting. She was willing to bet the the killer was used to the low lighting, since she certainly was.

“Audrey.” A distorted sing-song voice said from behind her, causing her to freeze, which really wasn’t helping her, and it didn’t take her long to realize it. She started running, well, as close as she could get to it, which was basically limping as quick as she could down the long hallway, with most of her weight leaned on the wall beside her. The killer didn’t even have to run to catch up with her, they just casually strolled, and ended up behind her within twenty short seconds. She could hear him, and that only made her want to run faster, but she couldn’t, and the frustration that built from that made her want to punch something. So she did exactly that, she used all of her strength to swing around and drive her fist directly into the mask. Evidently, it wasn’t much, because all they did was stumble back slightly in surprise, and come back, even angrier than before. She tried to punch them again, but they caught her fist, and twisted painfully behind her back, making her cry out in pain, then they got a hold of her other arm, and twisted that behind her back as well.

“You’re going to live to regret that.” The voice grumbled into her ears, giving her goosebumps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Noah flipped to the next key on the loop, and sighed, he really didn’t expect this key to work, he had been through at least 30 keys by now, and none of them opened this godforsaken door. He inserted the key, and almost dropped the whole lot of them in surprise, it actually had gone in, but when he tried to push it all the way in, it wouldn’t budge. Surprise, surprise. Noah let out a long groan, and almost chucked the whole loop of keys across the hall, but he stopped himself, since he would lose his place if he did that and he still needed to find Audrey. She had ceased her screaming, which led him to believe that she had passed out, he found himself hoping that that was the case because other most plausible explanation was, that she had died.

“Goddamnit Audrey,” Noah whispered, leaning his forehead against the door, and shutting his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Audrey, you’re probably gonna die here and it’s all my fault because I can’t- I can’t save you.” His voice broke in his last few words, as tears poured down his cheeks yet again. He hit the door weakly, angered by useless he felt, he couldn’t help her, he couldn’t even get through this godforsaken door. And, now both Eli and Emma could be dead, he had heard her scream, but he had just found the keys at the same time, so he hadn’t left.

“Noah.” Emma’s quiet voice came from behind him, along with a groan, and for a moment, he thought it was Audrey, but it was to deep to deep to be Audrey. He twirled around, laying his eyes on Emma, who looked scared, and Eli, who looked like he had been throught the ringer. He had a stab wound in his left shoulder, and that wound supplied the blood that covered most of his blue shirt. His non-injured arm was clutching a wad of cloth to his other bleeding shoulder, and Emma had an arm resting on his right shoulder. They were both a mess, and he guessed that he must’ve looked like one too, with tear tracks shimmering on his face. “You couldn’t get through?” Emma asked, eyeing the still locked door behind him.

“No, I can’t do anything for her, I’m useless!” He said, actually throwing the keys on the ground this time, knowing that he had just made things more difficult for all of them, and that only added to his hysteria. He ran his hands through his hair, looking at the ceiling so that he didn’t have to look at the pitying faces of Emma or Eli. He wanted to crumble, he already was crumbling, but he wanted to just curl into a ball and imagine Audrey there next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Noah, calm down, we have to get out of here and get help.” Noah meet her eyes, she had a stern look on that meant she was serious, but how could she be? She actually wanted to just  _ leave, _ when Audrey was so close, she wanted just leave in hopes that she would still be here when they came back. Emma had to understand that if they left, the killer would either move Audrey, or just kill her then and there. It was just then when Noah noticed the gun Emma had clutched in her free hand, He stepped back a bit, putting his hands in front of him defensively.

“It’s Eli’s he took it from Kieran, it’s how he got away from the Killer.” Emma explained, realizing why he was suddenly getting so defensive.

“Let’s see if you can get away from me again.” All of them whipped their heads around, and in the darkness, at the end of a very long hallway, stood the killer, or their silhouette at least, since it was too dark to make anything out. But Emma immediately raised the gun at him, with her finger hovering over the trigger dangerously. She looked terrifying, with a gun pointed down the hallway, and her hair messy from running, and topping it all off, she had a wild looked on her face. “Hit me with your best shot, Emma.”

“Where’s Audrey?!” She screamed, so loudly that it made both Noah and Eli jump a little. The arm she was using to hold the gun was shaking a little, so she brought her hand  off his shoulder and gripped the gun with it as well. “Where is she, if don’t tell me, I will pull the trigger!” Her voice was shrill, and it expressed her urgency extremely well, but all she got in response was an edited, but dark laugh.

“Then do it, shoot me Emma, I know you want to.” They taunted, and honestly, she did want to shoot them, and Eli and Noah certainly didn’t object, but Noah wanted her to shoot him in the stomach, so that’s they’d suffer for what they did to Audrey. But, he also didn’t want there to be any chance that this psychopath could get up and get revenge. “Come on, Emma.” She couldn’t stop herself, she pulled the trigger, a lot, until the gun just clicked instead of shooting, signalling that the gun had run out of bullets hadn’t actually hit, since Emma was shaking, and she was a terrible shot. But once she started shooting, the killer didn’t run, in fact, as his eyes got used to the darkness, he could see that the killer had their arm wrapped around a smaller, limp figure. The killer let go of the body that they had been clutching, and ran back down the hallway. Noah crouched down, grabbing his phones off the floor, and clicking on his flashlight. Shining a dim light on the figure that the killer had used as a human shield, and he lost his breath.

“Audrey?!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, that's not good, so what do you think, was Audrey hit, or did she get lucky?
> 
> Please Review!


	8. Who Matters More?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, For anyone who read the chapter that I deleted about maybe changing when in the show the story is set, I'm not changing it, I started this story with that mindset so I would like to finish it that way. And it would lead to too many plot holes that would be really hard to fix. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the Kudos, and thank to everyone who commented!
> 
> Please Review!

“No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

Noah found himself repeating ‘no’ so many times that the words began to overlap, but they never lost their meaning, maybe that was because of the horror that filled his voice. He ran towards her, sliding slightly in blood that was pouring out of her, and crashing down to his knees beside her.  _ No, please oh god no  _ Noah thought scanning her small form for the bullet wound, and letting out a horrified gasp. She looked  _ horrible _ , he wanted vomit at the site of her, since practically every inch of her body was covered in dried or new blood. But, at the same time, she was absolutely beautiful to him, because she was still herself, laying in front of him, when most of him thought he would never see her alive again. His eyes skated over her limp body until her fond where the blood was coming from, a her side, and her thigh.

A loud scream came from his right, and he whipped his head to see Emma crumple to the ground with a hand clapped over her mouth, and tears streaming from her eyes, obviously realizing what she had done. Eli helded her upright, and took the gun from her trembling hands, not that it mattered, since she had emptied the clip. Noah looked at Eli, silently asking if he could take care of her on his own, to which he nodded, allowing Noah to turn back to Audrey, knowing Emma would be fine. He hovered over her, trying to figure out where he could pick up from, he eventually settled on sliding his hands under her shoulders to try and lift her upper-half off the ground first. His hands brushed against the welts on her back as he lifted her, and winced as she moaned despite her unconscious state. He pulled her up into his chest , letting her limp head knock into his collarbone painfully.

“Call 911!” He croaked to Eli and Emma, sliding his other hand off her back, and underneath her knees, it was relatively difficult since her legs were sprawled, and he refused to stop hugging upper-half her to his chest. Eventually, he managed to collect her in his arms, and holding her bridal style, with her head leaning heavily on his shoulder. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet, shocked by how light she was. She had always been light, simply since she was tiny, but right now, she was abnormally light, and it made no sense until he realized that the son of a bitch probably hadn’t feed her at all.

“Is… Is s-she okay?” Emma’s quiet voice asked, stuttering through it, and for some reason, Noah felt rage flash through him.  _ What right does she have to ask that?  _ He thought  _ This only happened because she was so damn trigger happy.  _ The anger didn’t even subside when he turned and saw her traumatized face, that was red and blotchy with multiple tear tracks emitting from either eye, in fact, it flared up. He knew he shouldn’t be angry, it wasn’t her fault, and this was nothing like him, but he couldn’t help it, this was  _ Audrey _ the most important person in his entire world, and she had shot her. Luckily, before he could respond, Eli piped in.

“They’ll be here as quickly as they can.” Eli said quietly to Noah, who nodded, then looked down at Audrey’s limp form. He tried to reach up and pat Noah’s shoulder to reassure him, but he had used the arm with an injured shoulder, so he ended up crying out in pain and clutching his bleeding shoulder. Emma stopped dotting on Noah and Audrye to go help him, so Noah took that chance to finally let the tears he had been holding back fall down his cheeks. Silently, he pressed another kiss to Audrey’s, blood covered head, and hugged her even more tightly, if that was even possible, to his chest. He adjusted the arm that was underneath her shoulder blades, eliciting a groan from Audrey, he started to rock her slowly in his arms, knowing she probably could feel it, but he wanted to try and comfort her anyway.

“We should g-get out of here.” Emma said, sniffling as she heard the sound of distant police sirens whirring. Noah nodded, starting to walk, but he found that his legs were so shaky from distress and fear for Audrey’s life that it made it hard, but slowly, he trudged through the hallway, with Eli and Emma on his heels.

~~~~~~~~~~~   


The police and paramedics were just getting out of their cars when they exited the building. Noah and Audrey were immediately surrounded by the paramedics, who quickly took her from his arms, and carried her over to a stretcher. Noah didn’t want to let go of her, but he knew he had to, she had already lost a lot of blood, and he had no doubt that she was fading rapidly. He wanted to stay with her, but the paramedics wouldn’t let him, so he just settled for watching from afar, he could see everything, he could see Emma, taking Eli to get his injured shoulder patched up, he saw Maggie arrive on the seen, and run up to her daughter, but he couldn’t see Audrey through the mass of paramedics. Noah sunk down to the ground, stretching his legs out in front of him, and burying his head in his hands, using them to muffle the sobs that came through his sore throat.

“Noah? Uh, Noah?” Emma said, tapping his shoulder lightly, and making him look up and meet her gaze. She sniffled, and wiped her teary eyes with her sleeve, then glancing over at where the paramedics were now loading Audrey into an ambulance. “I’m gonna ride with Audrey, I’ll meet you at the hospital.” She said, as if that made  _ any sense  _ whatsoever. Emma turned and started to walk away towards the ambulance, but Noah was quick to stand up and turn her around by grabbing her shoulder.

“What the  _ hell  _ are you trying to do? You’re not riding with her Emma, that’s not happening! You're part of the reason she’s in that godforsaken ambulance in the first place! So don’t act like you deserve to ride with her, because you don’t, plain and simple. I’m riding with her, end of story.” Noah said, finally snapping and saying what he had been thinking ever since Emma pulled the trigger on that gun. He knew it wasn’t right to be blaming her, that she was probably traumatized herself, but he was seeing red at this point. “Go ride with Eli or something.” He stalked away, unaware that Emma had chosen to follow him, because she wasn’t giving up that easily.

“Hey no, I didn’t know it was her!” She shouted, running in front of him, and trying to defend herself against his harsh accusations. Even if they were partly right. Noah scoffed at her, and pushed past, jogging over to where they were loading up Audrey. “Noah, stop! Noah!” She cried as he left, but he didn’t care, since he really didn’t feel like dealing with her right now, he just wanted to see Audrey. But as he ran up, and was about to jump inside, he was stopped by one of the paramedics. 

“I’m sorry, you can’t ride with her if you’re not family.” The paramedic said, shooing them off quickly, as she tried to pull the door of the ambulance. He would just claim to be her brother or something, he could pull that off… right? But just as he was about to carry out his plan the paramedic spoke again. The only two people we have registered to be family are a mom and Dad, both of which are out of town, so don’t try and lie to us.” The paramedic warned, making Noah gulp, since she guessed  _ exactly  _ what he was planning.

“Andrea, let him ride, he’s closer to her than her actually family is.” A deeper voice came from behind him, and he knew that it wasn’t Emma, not only because of the voice, but Emma was obviously not a big fan of letting him ride with her. When he turned to see who it was, he saw Miguel Acosta, otherwise known as Sheriff Acosta, holding a notepad behind them. Apparently, he and the paramedic knew each other, probably because this was Lakewood and they worked together a lot. “Go on kid, Emma, I need to talk to you, so you’re going to have to come with me.” Emma looked ready to fight over riding again, but before she could, he jumped in the back of the truck.

Noah sat beside Audrey as the paramedic, evidently her name was Andrea, shut the doors with a solid  _ thud.  _ She walked back through, dodging the Audrey was placed on, and various medical supplies. As she walked past Noah, she patted him on the shoulder, and gave him a small, sympathetic smile.

“You can, uh, you can save her, right?” He asked, looking up and meeting her gentle brown eyes, and his started swelling with fresh tears. He couldn’t lose her, of all people not her, never her, she was the one person he could never lose. He looked back over at Audrey, who now had an oxygen mask on her face, and a tube shoved down her throat. It was even worse seeing her in bright light of the ambulance, against the stark white that covered the interior of the ambulance.

“We can try but, I’ll be blunt with you kid, she’s lost a lot of blood, it’s a long shot.” She left with that, and Noah’s tears were suddenly to overwhelming to fight down, as they spilled over his cheeks and a loud sob racked through his body. He reached beside her, grabbing the hand that hung limply by her side, and pulling it up to his mouth to kiss the back of her hand, that’s when he felt the lines that covered the back of her hand. He looked down, noticing the the shallow cuts, that had obviously clotted over time, and had gotten a little infected.

“Jesus, I’m so sorry Audrey. I… I know this isn’t my fault but, I wish I could’ve found you sooner, oh god, if only I had found you sooner, then you wouldn’t be this hurt, maybe you would be so close to-” Noah cut himself off, saying ‘death’ just made it too real, and he didn’t want to face the reality that he may never get the chance to talk to his best friend again, to hug her and be hugged back, to cuddle up on the couch together and watch a classic horror movie. “I missed you, god, I still miss you, please come back Audrey.” He managed to get out, before another loud sob racked through his skinny body.

“I was so alone when I met you, and so were you, Audrey, I can’t be alone again, because this time it will be different, I won’t just not have anyone, I’ll never have  _ you _ . I don’t want a new best friend, I want Audrey. I need you Audrey, please come back. I can’t do this without you, any of this, I can survive in this shitty world without you, please, please, come back, I want to see you smile, I want to hear you laugh, please Audrey, I love you, please don’t leave me.” He said, wanting to say more, but he started sobbing nonstop, and he couldn’t get any more words out of his mouth.

~~~~~~~~~

If there was anything he could take from this whole experience, it would be that he now knew how much he  _ hated  _ waiting rooms. Everything in the room had started to annoy him, from the constant crying of people that had lost loved ones, to simply the bleach-like smell of the entire place. He had been sitting in this uncomfortable chair for the past three and half hours, he had tried to occupy this time by reading the magazines, and using his phone, but he couldn’t focus on anything. Partly because of his worry for Audrey, but mostly because, in the hours he had sat here, there had been no sign of her father, and yeah, he knew boston was far away, but he hadn’t even gotten a phone call from her dad to see if she was alright.

He was incredibly surprised that he hadn’t seen Emma yet, but he imagined that the Sheriff wanted an elaborate explanation of the entire thing, from the fight, to the incident at the abandoned hospital. Oh god, the fight, Noah had completely forgotten about it until now, what was it even about? His podcast? No, no it wasn’t that, that came up, but it was something else, it was something about a theory, the theory about the… the….

The accomplice. He remembered now, she had tried to stop him from digging into the accomplice, because it could lead to something bad happening. Turns out she was right, was this his fault? Did he do this? Did the accomplice attack Audrey because he was digging into this too much? Or… was it something more? Had Audrey done something? Had she accidentally stumbled across some information that could’ve lead start to the accomplice? There were too many question that he was pretty sure only Audrey and the killer had the answer to.

“Noah?” A quiet, yet slightly angry voice pierced his thoughts, and pulled him back to reality. Emma had finally arrived, and was standing next to him, peering down at his pathetic form. His eyes were rimmed with a muted red, tear tracks stained his pale cheeks, and there was a lot of blood on him, and he was painfully aware that it was all Audrey’s. “She’s still in there?” Emma asked, and he nodded solemnly in response. She licked her lips, and sat down in the chair next to Noah.

“What did they say? About her condition, I mean, is she gonna be alright?” She asked, referring the doctors that were currently treating Audrey. He took a deep breath, sitting up in his seat, and promptly leaning back, trying to get his thoughts in order. They hadn’t told him much of anything, he had only knew what the paramedic had told him during the ambulance ride about how she had lost a lot of blood, and it didn't look good. But he didn’t want to tell her, not only had she  _ shot _ the most important person in his entire world, but she had wanted to leave, when they were so close to her, she had wanted to leave Audrey behind so they could get the police.

“Nothing.She’s been in there for over two hours, and nothing, I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but, it scared me.” He said, not really lying, but not telling the whole truth, not for her sake, but because he didn’t want her to know  _ anything _ . That was rather cruel of him, and he knew it, the problem was, he didn’t care. “What did you tell the sheriff?” He asked, trying to distract himself from the real issue.

“Everything, really. But I didn’t tell him about your fight, that could draw suspicion onto you, and, I know you wouldn’t do this. Any of this, especially to Audrey.” She said, and Noah felt a rush of relief, he wasn’t worried about them suspecting him, he was just completely and utterly ashamed of the fight, of everything he had said to her. She didn’t deserve any of that, she wasn’t repulsive, she was wonderful, everything about her was, from her personality, to her snappy attitude.

“Excuse me? Are you two here for an, Audrey Jensen?” They both turned, looking at a nurse in blue scrubs, who was clutching a clipboard in his hands. Noah nodded, jumping to his feet, bracing himself for bad news, but deep down, hoping ever so desperately for good news. “I have good news and bad news.” He said, making Noah’s shoulders slump, he really didn’t like the sound of that, and apparently, neither did Emma, as she jumped to her feet behind him.

“She’s currently stable.” The doctor said, letting Noah finally start breathing again, he hadn’t even noticed that he was holding his short breath. “But, she’s lost a lot of blood, and it appears that she hasn’t eaten or drank anything for days. She also has a number of injuries, an abundance of knife wounds, with varying depths, plus a brand on her left clavicle. There are a collection of flog wounds on her back, but one of you may go in and see her. Only one at a time please, this could still go either way and we don't want to overwhelm her of she wakes.” He finished, and walked past them, towards the nurse's desk. Noah had gotten increasingly more angry as he stated the brief summary of Audrey's wounds.

“Emma, go home.” Noah said simply, walking towards the swinging doors that led to the hallway that they were keeping Audrey in. He ignored her annoyed pleas for him to stop, trying, and failing, to not get more angry. She had stop a series of ‘Noah wait’s ‘It's my turn’s and ‘I wanna see her’s, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care at all. He didn't have time to deal with her bullshit right now.

“Noah, she's my bestfriend. Don't be an ass about this, please, I know you care about it's just, I've known her longer. We've been best friends longer.” She snapped, finally getting Noah to turn around, but not in the submissive mannered that she had hoped for, In a much angrier manner, that she had never before seen from him. Except for when RIley had died, but this, this was much more intense than that was.

“No, no you’re not, bitch.” He said in her face in a deathly quiet voice, and she would’ve shot a retort at him, if she hadn’t realized exactly how true those words were. They weren’t best friends, not anymore, and if she was being honest with herself, she’d have to say that her and Brooke were probably best friends at this point.”You  _ were _ her best friend, you gave up that title when you decided that she wasn’t good enough for you anymore. How can you even start to believe that you have any right to yourself her best friend? The fact of the matter is, me and Audrey, are better best friends than you two ever were, and don’t fight me on that, you know it’s true.” He said, with his voice getting gradually louder as he spoke.

“No, I am gonna fight you on that. How the hell do you know, you weren’t there! You never saw how close we were! So what the hell do you think you’re saying?! What makes you think you are any better friends than me and Audrey?” Emma snapped back, but Noah wasn’t deterred, he was just really aware of how many people were staring, and the fact that if they kept this up, they’d probably be asked to leave. He was gonna wrap this up quickly, but he needed something short that would shut her down for long enough that he could get away without her following him. Even though right now, he would love to just shout at her, and let all the his rage out, but he would have to settle for seeing the look on her face as he spat out his next line.

“Because you left, Emma, and I never will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter, I already have great ideas for the next one, so I hope you stay to read that!
> 
> Please Review!


	9. No.. ah?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for being MIA the last month! I've been caught up in school work, but I;m going to finish this ASAP. If you haven't noticed I've officially set it to 10 chapters, because this story is wrapping up, maybe I'll write a sequel, just let me know if you want one!
> 
> As always, thank you to everyone who left a Kudos, and a HUGE thank you to everyone who commented, you keep me remembering this story, and not letting it die.
> 
> Please Review!

Noah stayed sitting in a chair by Audrey’s bedside, he wasn’t going to leave, and he had made that expressly clear to any nurse that came in telling him he had to leave. The longer he sat there, listening to the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor, and watching the shaky rise and fall of Audrey’s chest, the angrier he got. Not only at the psychopathic killer, but at Emma, for obvious reasons, and finally, at Audrey’s father, Howard, because it had been hours, and he still wasn’t here for his daughter. He knew it was unreasonable for Howard to get here so quickly, since the plane ride from Louisiana to Boston is a long one, but Audrey could  _ die _ while he’s meandering. Noah closed his eyes, pushing the thought out of his mind as he tightened his grip on Audrey’s hand, willing her to be okay, because he couldn’t lose her. Ever.

The sight of her injuries made him sick to his stomach, even though all of them were wrapped in stark white cloth. What upset him the most was not her injuries, but the tube that they had stuck down her throat to help her breath. That meant she couldn’t do it on her own, and just the thought of that made him want crawl into the bed with her, wrap in his arms, and just  _ cry _ . But all he could hold onto was Audre’s limp hand, intertwining their fingers, and never letting go of her again.  _ Never again _ Noah thought, kissing her damaged hand for the fifth time since he had found her.

“Audrey… I’m so scared.” Noah croaked, speaking to her for the first time since she had come out of surgery. His voice was shaky, and hoarse, but still filled with all the emotional that had been bubbling up inside him for the last few days. Here, by Audrey’s side he finally felt able to express his true emotions. Sure, Emma had been helpful with making him feel better, but Audrey was the only one that could truly help, just with her presence alone. “I can’t lose you Audrey, please stay alive, please don’t leave me. I was alone before I met you, Lakewood sucked, I was an outcast and no one gave a shit about me. But then - Then you came along.” Noah took a moment, letting tears fall from eyes and drip onto the bed that he was hunched over.

“You came along and you… you cared about me, you shared your interests with me, and ever since then I’ve never, ever felt alone. And, now…” He said, taking a deep breath and trying not to let out a loud sob in the quiet hospital, even though they had given Audrey her own room. He knew that crying in a hospital was definitely not a new occurrence, but that didn’t mean he wanted to drawn attention to himself while he was trying to have such an intimate moment with the girl he loved so dearly. “Now you might die, and I’m scared. Scared of losing you, scared of being alone, scared of the thought that we might never be able to do things together again. No all night horror movie marathons, no stupid sleepovers where we just  _ talk _ , no nothing. I… I know it sounded like I did, before what happened… but I never want you gone Audrey, I never want you to change, you’re not repulsive, you the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and I d-don’t want to i-imagine my life w-without you.” 

That was all he could choke out before his sadness overwhelmed him he ended up pulling Audrey’s hand to chest, while his fingers were still wrapped with hers. He rocked himself back and forth slowly in the chair, finally letting a sob escape from his throat as he crumbled. Noah was just willing her to wake, to be okay, and to laugh and smile with him again.

It was then that the heart monitor faltered, the steady rhythm broke, He could tell, since it was all he had been listening to for the last few hours. He picked his head up, exposing the warm, blotchy skin around his eyes to the cool air of the room, but he didn’t care, his eyes were focusing on the monitor. Hoping it was just a one time thing, but when did anything ever go right them in Lakewood? Noah wasn’t an expert on anything medical, but he could tell when someone’s heart was faltering.

“Nurse! Nurse!” He screamed, but it didn’t matter because they were already on their way, clutching everything they needed to possibly save Audrey. They shoved him out of the way, and he would’ve been angry if he hadn’t been so worried about Audrey. This feeling only got worse as he caught some of the words that the nurses were yelling, such as ‘Her hearts failing!’ and ‘Someone grab the defibrillator!’ Quickly after the latter, another nurse rushed out and came back in, with a defibrillator in tow, and spotted Noah, who looked - and felt - horrified at the thought of them having to use that on her.

The nurse quickly handed the defibrillator, before turning back to Noah and shooing him out of the room. He went without a fight, he really didn’t want to see that.

_ Please be okay Audrey, please…  _ he thought, pressing the heel of his hands to his to his eyes as fresh tears rolled down his face.

***

Emma turned the photo over in her hands, it was of her an Audrey in middle school, when they were still best friends, and Emma hadn’t left her behind. The backside of the photo was mostly white, but it had messy handwriting scrawled on the back of it, that read ‘me and my bff! She always be by my side!’ and those few words pushed Emma over the edge, and forced tears out of her eyes. Audrey had written that, and had ended up throwing it, as well as other photo’s, at her when Emma and her had gotten into the big fight that ended their friendship. All of the photos were torn, all except this one, because as much as Audrey had been pissed in that moment, this was their favorite picture of them together, and even if she was throwing away their friendship, didn’t mean she wanted to throw away her childhood.

She sniffled, placing the picture delicately on the table, and slowly walking over to her bed. She took her time, looking around her room for the signs of Audrey that had wormed their way back into her life. A blue bomber jacket was slung over the top of a chair, Audrey had left it at her house when all of the Lakewood six, besides Jake, came over for a small movie marathon. Noah and Audrey had both voted for horror movies, Kieran was indifferent, and Brooke wanted to watch a rom-com. Emma smiled, remembering how fun it was to just sit, huddled next to Kieran and Brooke, because they had eventually watched a horror movie, and watching Audrey and Noah, who had so much enthusiasm. 

Emma thought of it as a good time, but something about it stung her, and Noah’s words kept echoing through her mind. ‘You left her, and I never would’ It was true, he was better towards her than she ever was. And, picturing the movie night in her mind, she knew that their friendship was something she couldn’t compare too. That’s why she hadn’t returned to the hospital after Noah had blew up on her, because she knew when she wasn’t wanted, or needed. The only thing Audrey needed right now was peace, and with Noah she could find that peace, and she could feel safe with him.

Emma laid down on her bed, not bothering to climb under the covers, or change into her pajamas as she set her heavy head down, watching the stars. Tears dripped sideways down her face, mingling at points. She could still feel the cold metal of the gun in her hand, it was imprinted into her skin, and she didn’t know if it would ever go away, especially if Audrey didn’t make it.

She turned over, burying her face into the pillow as a sob came up her throat, muffling it. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep, that much was obvious, and if she did, she had no doubt in her mind that she would have terrifying nightmares to haunt her. So, she took a deep breath, and sat up, pulling her phone out of her pocket as she did so. But she didn’t open it, running thoughts over in her mind, until something hit her hard.  _ Brooke, Kieran, Zoe, and Stavo! Oh god, they don’t know!  _ She thought, opening her phone quickly a dialling Brooke’s number. It took a few moments, but she answered.

“Emma? Why are you calling me so late?” Brooke asked nonchalantly, her voice slightly hoarse from sleep. From the other end of the phone, she could hear covers shuffling around, and the unmistakable sound of the quiet music that Brooke always fell asleep to. Apparently, it was soothing, and led to good dreams, but Emma called bullshit on that.

“Its uh…” Emma sighed, pressing her eyes closed and trying hard to construct a sentence in her head that didn’t sugar coat what was going on, but wasn’t blunt about it either. She cleared her throat as quietly as she could, though she wasn’t sure why, maybe it was the constant threat that someone could be watching her every move. “It’s Audrey, something happened?” Emma admitted, trying to take it slow since she knew that Brooke had just woken up.

“What happened? She find Jake or something?” Brooke asked, yaming in the middle of her sentence, and that’s when Emma realized that Brooke didn’t know about Jake either. She sighed, pushing back her tears, and sniffling slightly. She didn’t want to have to break the news about what had happened to Jake  _ and  _ Audrey, but it was starting to look like she had to. “Em? Hello?” Brooke uttered, and Emma noticed she had gotten lost in her thoughts.

“Uh, no, that’s not it,” Emma said shakily, chewing on her lip because of the anxious feeling that was building up her chest. She sniffled, feeling tears spill over onto her cheek as she recalled the memory. “She’s… she’s hurt, Brooke, bad. And Jake he’s…” She started, silently scolding herself for just saying them back to back instead giving a buffer period, she knew she should’ve, because even though they weren’t close before, Brooke would even admit that she cared very deeply about Audrey now.

“What?! Are they okay?!” Brooke asked, suddenly very awake and frantic, making Emma cringe because this was the exact response she was trying to  _ avoid.  _ But, she had to tell her now, she couldn’t leave Brooke to wonder what had happened, not anymore. “Emma, tell me, please!” Brooke added, panic lacing her sweet voice.

“Audrey’s… in the hospital right now, she’s really,  _ really _ , bad Brooke I have no idea if she’ll make it. I know she’s lost a lot of blood, she got some stab wounds and… some bullet holes. There’s a killer again Brooke! I don’t know what to do! Noah’s with her right now, if you want to know more, ask him.” Emma said, avoiding the Jake topic because she wasn’t sure how to word it without hurting her. And, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was probably impossible not to.

“Oh… oh my god.” Brooke said, and Emma could picture her covering her mouth with her hand in shock. She didn’t want to imagine Brooke’s reaction when she found out about Jake, and she almost wished Broke would forget that she mentioned him so that she could tell her in person instead. But, she wasn’t that lucky, maybe it was because she was worried since she hadn’t seen him in a while. “What…. What about Jake?” She asked, sniffling slightly.

“Jake, he uh, he’s dead, the killer sent this… this…. Fucked up video of him like whipping Audrey or something, and him… killing Jake.” Emma said hesitantly, and immediately afterword she heard a horrified gasp, and soon after than, a muffled sob. Followed by another, and another, and soon enough, Brooke wasn’t even trying to muffle it anymore. “I'm coming over.” Emma eventually decided, knowing she couldn’t take it, listening to her best friend sob and not being able to help at all.

***

Noah had settled back next to her on the chair. The nurses had managed to successfully stabilize her, but he hadn’t stopped crying since. He gripped her hand tightly in his own, willing her to wake up, say hello, say goodbye, say  _ anything _ . He wanted to hear her voice again, see her smile, he wanted to see her eyes, and the fire that was always lit inside them, inside  _ her _ . 

“I love you.” He whispered, sniffling soon afterwards. It was the first thing he had said since the incident, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything else, because that’s all that seemed to matter right now. He loved her, he loved her more than anything in the entire world, and if he lost her, her would lose himself completely. 

He closed his eyes, letting the tears cover the lower half of his face, audibly sobbing, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to sit there, imagining Audrey sitting up, wrapping her strong arms around his scrawny form and telling him that everything was going to fine. Even if they both knew it definitely wouldn’t. His mind started to drift, thinking of old memories of the two of them together.

_ “See! I told you!” Noah exclaimed grinning widely and pointing to the tv screen, where a horror was playing on screen and the main character had just died. Noah had betted Audrey five dollars that she was going to die, but they never really collected on bets, they just made them for fun. Audrey and him were sitting together on his couch while his mom was out, having a movie marathon, which was pretty much always horror movies. _

_ “Alright Foster, you win.” Audrey replied,  She popped another piece of popcorn into her mouth as the credits started to roll on the screen. A large smile was plastered across her face, because even though she lost, she loved messing around with Noah. It was fun,  _ he  _ was fun. _

_ “You bet I do!” Noah said, laughing a little. Which only made Audrey elbow him gently in the gut. She didn’t want to actually hurt him, just make her point. They played around like that all the time, it was familiar to them _

_ “Don’t be cocky, virgin.” She said, pushing herself off the couch and stretching a little. She looked back at him with a goofy smile on her face, and the only thing he could think was  _ Oh my god, she’s beautiful.

Maybe that’s why he loved that memory so much, she looked amazing, with her messy hair, cheerful smile, and radiant skin. He thinked he loved how happy she looked, and the fact that she was so happy because she was spending time with  _ him _ . A nerdy, serial-killer obsessed, outcast. He had no one before he had her, she was his savior, his entire life surrounded around this, tough, ill-tempered, short,  _ beautiful _ girl. He ran his free hand through his hair, accidentally slicking it back because his hand was covered in tears. But he just sat, sniffling and sobbing loudly until, a small, broken, yet familiar voice spoke.

“No..ah?” He picked up his head immediately, seeing that Audrey eyes were slightly parted and hazy, but looking directly at him. Her head was slightly elevated, and her eyes were squinted, as if even the dim light of the hospital was too much. Which, it probably was, if he had to guess. She had been kept in a small, dark room, for the last few days, and the lighting was probably kind of abrasive. He pushed those thought from his mind, and focused on what was happening  _ now _ . Audrey was awake, she was there, awake in front of him, and she had spoke.

“Oh my god, Audrey!” He cried quietly, and in a spur of the moment decision, he quickly cupped her face in his hands, and leaned over, placing a soft, passionate kiss on her lips. He stayed there for a moment, Audrey was in shock in his arms, and he was so wrapped up in the joy of seeing her awake again, that he just didn’t think. Strangely enough, he felt her hands snake up the sides of his face, and bury themselves in his short, messy hair. It was that moment that he realized what he was doing, he pulled back, not wanting to take advantage of his best friend when she was hopped up on painkillers. “S-sorry.” He muttered, not taking his hands off her face, or going that far, because he wasn’t willing to let her go, but not looking directly at her either. 

“It was just, heat of the moment, ya know?” He sighed, and finally meeting her ocean blue eyes again. Audrey’s eyes began to tear up as she looked at him, unable to say anything, tears starting pouring out of her eyes, and Noah just froze when he saw her face. She barely ever broke down like this, the only other times he had seen this side of her is when Emma left, and when her mom was diagnosed. He instantly felt horrible, he had upset her, the one person he cared about in this fucked up town, he had hurt. “Oh I’m so sorry, Audrey, you have to believe that I would never hurt you on purpose! It was just-”

“It’s not that, you idiot.” She said pulling forward and pulling him into a tight hug, gripping the fabric of his shirt in her hands. He quickly wrapped his arms around her when he realized what she meant, it wasn’t anything he did that had upset. She mustered all the strength she could, which wasn’t even that much, to hold him close.They sat there for a solid five minutes, just holding each other, before Audrey spoke up. “I thought I was never gonna see you again, Foster.” She said, tucking her face into his neck. 

“Likewise. Hey, Aud.” He said, pulling out of the hug to look at her, he was planning on telling her, how terrified and distraught he was while she was gone. Then, he saw the pained expression on her face, and he realized that she was probably in a lot of pain right now, despite of the medication the was on. Her eyes were pressed tightly shut, and her nose was wrinkled. “I’m gonna go get a nurse, okay? They’ll probably want to know your up anyway.” He said, putting his hands on her shoulders and trying to get her to open her eyes open, but she refused, so he just flashed her a weak smile and stood up heading toward the door.

“Hey, nurse! She’s up!” He called once he was out of the room, getting the attention of a friendly looking lady who had obviously just started her shift. She immediately turned around and jogged over to him, going through the open door and going up to Audrey, who was now gripping her side and grimacing. He felt worry bubble in his stomach, because he hated seeing her in pain, but just as he was about to go inside and hear what the nurse had to say about her his phone rang.  _ Probably mom,  _ he thought  _ she’s probably worried too _ , so, with that thought in mind, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed ‘answer’. “Hey, mom, sorry.” He said, waiting for her response so that he could tell her that Audrey was awake.

But the voice that came out of the phone was not his mothers, it was a distorted obviously edited voice, that reminded him of all the horrors that had happened in the last few days.

  
“Hello, Noah. Did you really think I was done?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What does the killer want with Noah? Comment what you think!
> 
> Please Review!


	10. Passion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! This is my final chapter for this story, I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for anyone who left Kudos, and a double thank you to commenters!
> 
> Please Review!

“What the hell to want?” Noah asked angrily, practically fuming already. Noah used to be intrigued by the Lakewood slashers, but now, he was only angered at the very thought of them, he didn’t care how interesting they were anymore, they had hurt the most important person in the entire world. He’d happy to watch this asshole die an extremely slow, and painful death. These thoughts were unlike him, and he knew it, but he couldn’t find it within himself to feel even a little bit worried about it.

“Tsk tsk Noah, are you really willing to snap at me after all this? All I want to do is ask you a simple question... and maybe provide some much needed information if necessary.” The killer taunted, making Noah throw the wall a bitch face, knowing that the killer was probably watching him from somewhere, and could see what it. 

“Tell me what?” Noah spat, not actually interested in hearing what he had to say, but he knew if he didn’t listen, or ended the call, it would have serious repercussions. So he had to stay on the line, he had to listen to whatever this psychopath was about to tell him, even if it was going to be some cliche question like ‘Do you wanna die?. But Noah wasn’t thinking right, he was angry, and he didn’t want to listen to this asshole, he wanted to go talk to Audrey. He glanced back at her hospital room, looking through the window at her, she was grimacing in pain as a nurse doted over her, and he knew he had to listen, he couldn’t let her get hurt anymore. 

“How much do you really know about your,  _ bi curious friend _ , Audrey?” They asked in a sickly taunting tone, of course Noah could hear that it was a rhetorical question. He stayed quiet as a laugh emitted from the phone, and Noah felt his mind begin to race. How well did he know Audrey? He would like to say he knew everything about her, but she hid things, like the fact she was Rachel, and now that he thought about it, she had been acting a little off for the last few days before she was taken. The killer could practically see the gears turning in Noah’s head, and that’s when they continued. “Im guessing no, by the look on her face, well, you’re questions can be answered easily, just look around you  _ virgin _ .” The voice growled, and noah found himself disgusted at the killer saying Audrey’s nickname for him. 

“What the hell is that supposed to...” He started, but his sentence faded off when he several papers, full of writing, laid on the ground like a trail. The line went dead, but Noah didn’t notice, because the hand clutching his phone had fallen down to his waist. He was more focused on the papers, what did they mean? Why did the killer want Noah to see them? He wasn’t sure he wanted to see, but the same time, the curiosity inside him was not something he could subdue easily. He crept closer to the papers, worried about what could be written on them. But, as he crouched down, picking the tin paper up off the ground, he saw something completely unexpected. It was a letter, and without even reading it, he knew Audrey was the one who write it. He only knew this because he knew her handwriting, from writing notes to each other in class, and reading over her work for school, along with other various times he had seen her write. His eyes flickered up to the top of the paper, and began reading.

_ Dear Piper, _

He froze, shocked and confused, surely she had to mean a different meant Piper, she just  _ had _ to. This was Audrey, not the person he had been looking for, not the accomplice, she would never do that, she would never kill Riley, or Rachel. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense, and that simple thought horrified him. He tried to read on, promising himself that he would give his best friend the benefit of the doubt.

_ I m so done with everyone in this goddamn town! Just when I thought I had by someone by my said, Emma abandoned me, the girl I loved left me. She got pretty, and suddenly she’s hanging out with Nina! I’m so done with her shit, all I ever did was be there for her, and care about her and love her. I don’t deserve any of this! She left, me for Nina of all people, all she does is ignore me now, in favor of her new, vapid friends. Well fuck her, I have Noah, and you, you’re both amazing, and better best friends than Emma ever was. This might be annoying to you, because I know she’s your half sister and all, but she’s just such a princess bitch! I know you want to get to know her and all, but honestly, are you sure about that? We were best friends since birth and she let me rot, upset, and alone. Sorry for ranting so much, I just feel that I can with you, you’re one of my best friends.  _

_ Your Friend, Audrey _

Noah clutched the paper tightly, just thinking the same three words over and over again in his mind, ‘What the hell, what the hell, what the hell…’ he didn’t know what else to think. Audrey had mailed  _ the  _ Piper, the one who had murdered all these people, and from the way the was talking in the letter, it almost sounded like Audrey assisted her in those horrid crimes. Noah started breathing rapidly, he was panicking, his best friend, the person he loved most in the world might be a serial killer, he stumbled backward, dropping the paper like it was burning his hands. He had to get out of here, now, he had to go dig into this, he had to make sure. She couldn’t, she  _ wouldn’t,  _ Noah tried to cling onto the fact that it was her girlfriend who was killed, and Audrey was devastated, and unstable, but was it all an act? Was she faking all of this? Faking being his friend, faking being the girl he had come to love?

No. He couldn’t believe that, plus, she had just been kidnapped and tortured, there was more to this than meets the eye, he had to find out. He had to clear her name. Noah started to walk away, when he was stopped by a hand on his arm, as he turned back, he saw a nurse, clutching his clipboard in one arm. 

“She asked to see you.” He said simply, before releasing him, and walking away, nurses were busy people, after all, so he was left standing there, with his mind racing. What did Audrey want? Should he bring it up? Should he even go? The thought did run around in his mind for to long before he knew that he had to, innocent until proven guilty, so, he was gonna give her the benefit of the doubt, even if he was gonna keep his distance. So, slowly, he began to walk towards the room, picking up the papers off the floor as he did so, and shoving them in his pockets. The room wasn’t all that far away from him, but he took his time, trying to think of a way to deal with his horrid new discovery.

Eventually, he reached the open door, and as he stood there, he watched Audrey turn her head and grimace at the slight movement, but smile nonetheless. He flashed back a very weak smile, and hoped that she was to drugged up to see through it as he walked up to her bed. But, he should’ve known she’d notice, it’s just what happens when you’re this close to someone. Her brow furrowed, and if Noah hadn’t been so confused and angry, he would’ve felt bad for worrying her when she was the one sitting in the hospital bed. 

“Noah? What’s wrong? You don’t have to worry, they said I’ll be okay… eventually.” She said, in that careful, soft voice that she used when he was sad, or scared. But, even though she was trying to be comforting, he satyyed a few paces back from her hospital bed. He could see the obvious distress in her eyes, she didn’t know why he was acting like this, but he didn’t know if he should tell her. He tossed the idea around in his head, if he asked, he wasn’t sure she’d answer honestly, but if he didn’t ask, he would be very distant for seemingly no reason. Letting out a long, drawn out sigh, he decided to give her a chance to be honest, keeping in mind that with the state she was in, she probably couldn’t make up a believable lie, her mind was still clouded.

“You… wrote to Piper.” He announced shakily, and she immediately froze, her eyes unfocusing as they stared off at some point in the distance, her hands started to shake, violently, and that was all he need to know that it was true, not some trick the killer was playing. Noah wasn’t worried about that anymore, because Audrey looked  _ scared _ , genuinely terrified, and he found himself completely forgetting about the entire, thing. His hand covered hers, he held them in his own and tried to steady them, she had been through so much in the last few days, he didn’t want her scared, not now. He knew her well, but he didn’t know what she was afraid of anymore, yet he knew he didn’t want her to be afraid. She had been afraid and alone for so long, he didn’t want her to be scared of anything anymore, he wanted her happy, he wanted her safe. He met her eyes, they were full of unshed tears, and she was obviously trying to fight them down,  _ always the fighter  _ he thought to himself, smiling sadly at her. He didn’t know what was going on in her mind, but after a few seconds of looking at her, she cracked, and let out a heart wrenching sob, closing her eyes as tears poured down her face, in multiple tracks per eye. “Hey, shh, it’s okay, shh, Audrey,” He said, moving closer to the bed and climbing on.

“N-noah I-I-” She started, still not opening her eyes, she was broken, so broken, and he wanted to help, but, for the first time since he had met her, he didn’t know how to help. Mostly because he had brought it up, and he felt like he had just hurt her, he should've waited, he should’ve let her recuperate first. He shook his head, trying to fight back tears of his own, because Audrey was strong, and when she cried, he usually did too, because he didn’t want her hurt. She took a deep breath, pulling him from his thoughts, and opened her red-rimmed eyes. “I know why this psycho is after me, h-he knows what I did, and I guess he wants me to pay for some reason. M-maybe because I shot Piper, I ended that murder spree.” Noah watched her carefully, she was spilling everything, maybe she wouldn’t if she was drugged up, but she was doing it, and he need to know.

“I brought Piper to Lakewood,” she admitted, not meeting his eyes, but he was obviously taken aback, his mind instantly began jumping to conclusions,  _ she brought Piper here to kill everyone  _ he thought, and almost got up and ran at that very moment, but something stopped him, maybe it was that big part in the back of his head that still believed in her, despite what she had said. “I was pissed, and, and, I felt alone because of Emma, and, and, just  _ pissed  _ at the world in general. So, I went online searching for information about Brandon James, and there I found Piper, I wrote her letters, I begged her to come to Lakewood to help me right a documentary about him. I asked Piper if she was the one killing everyone and she  _ swore  _ to me that she wasn’t, and I… believed her, I thought she was my friend. But I guess not… I deserve this, I… that killer should’ve just killed me.” He voice was deadly soft, and throughout her entire explanation, everything made so much sense.

“No you don’t, not you Audrey, not ever, and if you believe that, then Piper and this sicko win.” He said, before slowly pulling her into a tight hug, she pressed her bruised face into his chest, and he had to guess that it was slightly painful. He brushed his hand through her short, black hair, using that to hold her head to him, so she didn’t have to try so hard to stay there, but she still did, wrapping her arms so tightly around him that it restricted his chest slightly.

“Please don’t tell Emma, I have to do it.” She muttered, once her crying had ceased, and Noah found himself nodding. He knew he was going to keep bothering Audrey about it to get her to fess  up, but that’s just because she was scared, and he knew that, she was scared of losing Emma. Noah felt a pang to his heart at that thought, of course, it was Emma, always Emma, she always found her way back to Emma, and Noah was left in the dust.  _ I am…  _ He froze, slightly loosening his grip on Audrey, and she seemed to have noticed, because she pulled back to look him in the eyes, but he was lost in thought.  _ Am I… jealous?  _ He asked himself, letting his eyes flicker back down to Audrey, when things started making sense.

He couldn’t ever hate her, because she was everything to him, he couldn’t ever hate her, because she meant more to him than anyone else. He couldn’t ever hate her because he would always choose her over himself. He couldn’t ever hate her because he  _ loved  _ her, this entire time he thought those feelings had been platonic, but as he stared at her know, with her face puffy from crying, her hair tossed in several directions, and her whole body covered with cuts and bruises and welt that were sure to scar, he couldn’t find a single thing about her to be anything less than beautiful. He tried to push the thought away, yes she was beautiful, he had already known that, regardless of romantic feelings, and nothing could make her anything less than absolute perfection to him, but, do all best friends feel compelled to kiss each other?

“Noah?” She asked, confusion clear in her tired voice, and it was then when he noticed that his gaze had drifted downwards and started looking at her lips. But he didn’t move, he just tried to pretend that he was spaced out, so that she didn’t think anything of it. Eventually she clapped lightly in his face, it was light because she was weak right now, and because she was not trying to scare him.

“Audrey, should I take the plunge?” He asked breathily, still not moving his eyes, and referring to a kiss, should he kiss her? Would it be a smart thing to do right now? He didn’t want to freak her out, but the feelings he had been keeping hidden for the last few years came rushing out, flooding his senses and clouding his judgement. He sighed, licking his lips, and explaining, because he knew she didn’t understand what he meant. “I mean, there’s something I want to do, with a killer being back, I feel like I have to do it now.” He said and felt Audrey’s hand on his arm, trying to be comforting, and succeeding. Something that seemed like electricity shot through him when she touched him, and he knew if he ever wanted to feel this good around anyone again, he had to do this.

“I think if you really need to do it, you should, do you really need this?” She asked, and he finally looked at her eyes, they were ocean blue, mixed with small tints of a greenish color, and it was absolutely beautiful, that’s the only way to describe it, they were wondering and curious. He found himself entranced by them, so he just sat there, staring into her eyes, and trying to make up his mind. He was scared to do it, but he wanted to, he wanted to so damn bad. “Noah?” She asked again, in that beautiful soft tone that she has.

He took the plunge. He leaned forward, planting a kiss directly on her lips, and closing his eyes, mainly because she didn’t want to see her reaction, but also because it felt  _ right _ . He felt content, sitting in a moment of bliss as energy shot through him. He wasn’t thinking, he was just sapping everything out of that moment, the way she tasted, they way they seemed to fit together perfectly, the way she didn’t shove him away. He moved his hands upwards, cupping her face in them, and putting all of the repressed emotions and passion into that kiss. Then, the strangest thing happened.

  
She kissed back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, it's all come to an end, I would like to thank anyone who has commented on this story ever, you guys are so amazing and I really appreciate the things you say. If you ever left me Kudos, thank you, It's awesome to see that people really like my story! I might write a short sequel if you guys want it, I have some ideas, but it would most likely be just two chapters. Anyway, If you liked my writing, I have another story up that I'm very excited about, and some more projects in the making! I'm done now, so one finally, I'm so glad you read my story, thank you!
> 
> (Oh yeah and review please!)


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